Tomorrow She Will Be Three

We just put Lauren to the bed for the last time as a two year old! What a bittersweet feeling. She seems to know that tomorrow is her birtday, but not quite what it means. She did tell me that we needed to go somewhere so that "friends can say happy birthday to Lauwen." Though, if you ask her how old she's going to be, she says "twelve" about half the time.

I've been reflecting on all of the things Lauren has done in the last year:
-She's really mastered speech and can share most of her ideas in complete sentences. She's constantly surprising and entertaining us with the things she says. She can also follow pretty complex verbal instructions.
-She's become quite a bit more physical, running and jumping with ease. She also does a really great somersault.
-Her coloring technique has improved greatly and she's starting to be able to make shapes.
-She's mastered her colors and shapes, can name all the months, say the alphabet, and can count to 22. She can recognize and spell her name.
-She's beginning to understand cause and effect and correlations; when she hears the nails of the dog clicking in our room, she knows the dog's going to sleep (especially if it's Jasper!)
-She's beginning to understand size relationships and here vs. there. She also knows the difference between boys and girls but mixes up the pronouns.
-She's started engaging in imaginary play, especially in relation to playing cook.
-She also shows a lot of interest in helping around the house, especially sweeping and cooking. She also is very good about asking for help when she needs it.
-She's been sleeping in a big girl bed ever since May of last year and has done really well with it. She occasionally wakes up around 3 am but gets herself back to sleep just fine.
-Potty training is still going really well; she's averaging about 90% using the potty and has even told us a couple of times when she needs to go. Still keeping fingers crossed!
-I think her personality has developed even more. She's a bright, charming little girl who loves fiercely and reacts fiercely when she isn't happy. She's independent and stubborn, both of which I think are very good things though a little difficult to negotiate at times. It's just been really fun to see her figure out who she is and I can't wait for that to continue.

Lauren is just such a joy in our lives and I can't wait to see what she's going to do next. She's more than we could have ever asked for. We love our girl very much and are endlessly proud of her! Let's see what great things the next year brings!