Mattie turns 3!

Mattie Claire is 3!

+ She's a sassy little thing but also very sweet.  She has major opinions and is not afraid to let you know when she disagrees with you.  But she gives the best squeeze hugs and is always quick to say "thank you so much!"

+ She loves to play with babies; she and Jilly are always playing family where they take turns being the mom and the "sweet pea."

+ Six months ago Mattie wore a nightgown all.the.time and then suddenly around Christmas she switched and started never wearing pajamas.  Instead she'll choose a dress-up or dress to wear to bed.  She loves to choose her own clothes and can almost dress herself. 

+ Mattie still sleeps in her crib (and loves it!) but no more pacifier!  The night before her birthday Mattie said "Will Katie give me back my paci's for my birthday?" (We put them in a bag to give to Baby Joe.)  I told her no and that she was a big girl and Mattie said "I wish I could grow little again."  Poor girl, sometimes growing up stinks.  

+ Speaking of bed, when Mattie goes to sleep she always asks for her "lantern" to be turned on.  She means a little lamp on her dresser, but it cracks me up that she calls it a lantern and I'll never ever correct her. 

+ Mattie is very observant as we're driving around in the car.  She knows when we're going "daddy's way" toward his office, she always points out my doctor's office, and she pays close attention to the lights to tell me when to stop or go.  She also always always always wants to listen to Elsa in the car.

+ I'm not sure if it happened by default, or if we were just lucky but Mattie LOVES the color purple and Jillian loves pink.  Mattie will only eat off a purple plate with a purple fork so I finally broke down and bought another set to get an extra purple.  

We had so much fun celebrating Mattie on her special day.  We started out with purple pancakes and then got ready and went to church.  In the car she said "It's a church day and a birthday, hooray!"  After church Mattie opened a few presents and spent the afternoon playing with her new dollhouse toys.  That night we had friends over for dinner and cake.  Mattie loved having everyone sing happy birthday to her.  We finished the night skyping with Nana and Papa and opening a few more presents, then facetime-ing with Gigi and Papa and tucking the birthday girl into bed.  We're so lucky to have Mattie in our family.