WolfesOnline: Goodbye Three

(Last moments being three!)

Tonight I put my three-year-old Elle to bed for the very last time [STOP GROWING UP! ;) ], as tomorrow she’ll wake up a four-year-old. It feels like yesterday that her 10 little pounds was curled up and resting in my arms - she's a whopping 30 now!

This past weekend with the cousins was a fabulous end to the first three wonderful years with our Elle. Aunt JJ and Uncle Chris orchestrated a birthday, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year celebration in a fun-filled two-day blast! We enjoyed cake, crafts, dumplings, presents and a Chinese New Year event at the local college. Elle and Zane were enthralled with the performances. Elle was moved by the dancing - 'My heart is so happy!' and 'I like this!' Zane kept beat to the music and kept signing, 'MORE, MORE'!

The best was just being with family, rejoicing over Benjamin's first basket of the season, cooking together, playing and loving on one another. M/B/E/J/A are dear to Elle and Zane and it's always a bummer to pack it up and go home after our time together.

Elle is cracking us up with her words... "Oh my goodness!", "You're kidding me!", "What sound that?", "Good night nurse!", "Okay, man!", "Cute!" One day, with my hand on the right side of my chest, I told Elle that I was really proud of her heart, that Dada and Mama could tell that her heart was right and that made God happy too! She smiled, pointed to the left side of her chest and asked, "This heart too?"

As much as we enjoyed rocking her 10 little pounds, we are equally enjoying seeing her grow in responsibility. Elle is so helpful in the morning as she brings the milk, nuts and juice from the refrigerator door, the raisins from the pantry and spoons from the drawer to set the table for our morning cereal. She is sole administrator over the napkin basket and sees to it that it is fully stocked for every meal. We also appreciate her sensitivity to Zane's needs and are touched when she runs to bring him his sippy cup or teddy bear when she sees he needs them. We anticipate that this year will be all about the concept of sharing as we are reminding her of this responsibility daily.

So today we remember our precious baby and enjoy these days, watching our little girl unfold into an exuberant four-year-old, and looking forward to another wonderful year with Elle.