Just a Small Little Big Girl

Adessa thinks you're only a big girl if you can touch the ceiling. This is an explanation for why she doesn't think she can do various things I ask of her, because she's not a big girl, yet. I hope she changes her mind and does things like dress herself, put her socks on, etc. before she's tall enough to touch the ceiling. She allows that, yes, now she's bigger--three years old!--but she patiently explains to me that she's still just: "a small little big girl."

Her birthday party was lots of fun. It was great to see her new level of understanding: she really gets birthdays. She looked around with glee at us all as we sang to her, so delightful.

Adessa's birthday cake. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and royal icing decorations. It wasn't too stressful, maybe I'll take up cake decorating again. I think the bigger the cake, the more room for error, so small cakes are the way to go.


Adessa and her Romina and their sparkly shoes. Adessa is already dancing on tables at parties, but we'll keep an eye on her. And, yes, she dressed herself. She refuses all fashion advising. Which I'm told is cute.


Gwen and Adessa at her birthday party. Thank you, Sky Park, for hosting our parties.


And that takes us right into summer. Swimming lessons started up, and I'm enjoying swimming with both the girls. Adessa was going to have a class with a teacher, and did fine the first day. For the next three classes, she howled and wailed. For 30 minutes straight, even with me or her cousin, Jordan, in with her. This week I've been in the water with her and we have had much more successful classes (by successful, I mean quieter.) She has definite ideas about what she will or won't do in the water. And this surprises me??

Eliana getting ready for her swim lesson. Modeling her "burkini", full coverage swimwear.


Adessa lounging after her swim lesson, eating a well deserved graham cracker.



I thought it was a good idea to get Adessa a pair of scissors for her birthday, to help with her fine motor coordination and get her ready for preschool. Ohhhh dear. Who knew that she has shredding capabilities Enron would covet? She's a human shredder. We consider renting her out, as she's an ideal little big person to do the job: she can't read, so sensitive documents wouldn't be compromised, and she can cut a regular weight paper into smithereens in under a minute, which are then scattered all over our house as an additional security measure.