Happy Third Birthday, Mio!

Happy third birthday, Mio! Three years ago today when I looked upon your face for the first time, I could hardly believe you were mine. Today as I watch you playing on the floor of your room, I find that I feel exactly the same way. The sense of wonder and disbelief that you came from us doesn’t goes away, and I have never gotten over how lucky we are to have you. At three years old, you still have one foot planted in toddlerhood with remnants of baby fat still visible on your face and frame, and yet you’re growing into a little girl with an exuberant and complex personality. Your quirkiness charms everyone you meet, from your preschool teachers to random ladies at the grocery store. You are an independent free spirit — a delightful paradox of dress-up and a dirt-smudged face; fairy wands and Legos. You light up our lives with your giggles and sweet hugs, which smooth my rough edges and restore my tired spirit at the end of the day.

You have my heart, now and forever.

♥ Mama

The Rundown at Three Years Old…

Stats: I’ll updated more accurate measurements once we go to your doctor’s checkup, but according to your growth chart, you are now exactly 3 feet tall (36 inches). You weigh around 34 lbs — definitely too heavy for Mama to hold for over two minutes!

Things You’re Doing Now: We are definitely seeing your transition from toddler to kid lately — your vocabulary and communications have grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple months, and you’re now talking in full sentences. While we had initially worried about a delay in speech, you’ve clearly hit the “verbal explosion” stage we’ve been long anticipating, and you are speaking a lot in both English and Japanese, and know how to use them separately according to who you’re talking to without jumbling the two languages up. Your brain is such a sponge right now, and you’re constantly full of “What’s that?” and “Who’s that?” questions and pick up and learn those answers and new words immediately upon hearing them only once. It’s really amazing to see how much you’re picking up but that also means we have to really watch what we say in front of you. You sometimes say random funny things, like “Oh, man…”, “Come on guys! It’s time to move!”, and “CATCH HIM!!!” — undoubtedly language you’ve picked up from preschool! The other day, while we were shopping at the mall, you went up to a mannequin and touched its dress, scrunched your face up into a big smile and effusively gushed, “SO CUTE!” … which Dan laughingly pointed out were gestures and words that you had picked up from me and were imitating. It was pretty funny, and maybe you really are turning into a little mini-me! You’re also able to recognize the letters of your name now and can point out when you “read” your name somewhere, and like to arrange your alphabet magnets to spell out “MIO” too. You love books more than ever, and are especially interested in Japanese folk tales. Your current favorite movie is “Monsters Inc” (“Finding Nemo” is still a close second!), and your favorite characters are Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Anpanman, Doraemon, Hello Kitty, and Super Why. Dan and I noticed that since a few months ago, you’ve mellowed out of your “terrible two”-dom and gotten much easier to reason with. Of course, you still have your occasional meltdown when you are overtired, but you listen to what we say and follow rules without getting upset or throwing tantrums — we agree that we couldn’t have asked for a sweeter child! We’re relieved to announce that after months of failed attempts and accidents, you are almost fully potty trained. As of a couple weeks ago, we can take you on outings and to preschool in underwear without accidents, and you only wear a diaper at night when you go to sleep. You’ve even started telling us when you have to go recently, instead of us having to just periodically sit you on the potty. You’ve permanently moved to your big girl bed and are getting better at using normal cups without spilling. You are also playing a lot more autonomously and quietly work on building with your blocks and putting together puzzles when I have to take care of your baby sister. While you are not quite the doting big sister yet and most of the time you choose to ignore Mirei, it seems like you’re starting to come around and warm up to her a little bit more, offering toys to her, planting the occasional kiss on her, and saying “Mee-dey-chan kawaii~” (or “Mirei’s cute” — you can’t quite say “Mirei” and pronounce it with a “d” sound instead of an “r” sound). You also help Mama and Daddy by bringing over diapers, wipes, bottles, and burp cloths when we need some help. We’re so proud of you for all the ways you are growing up and being able to do things more independently. It’s been a wonderful three years, and we look forward to many more fun-filled years ahead!