Lily: 3 years old

 Lily turned three just before Easter. She is a whirlwind of energy that leaves every space in a state of chaos. 

I was able to have one on one time with her all day, since her siblings were in school. She asked me for 3 things- to get a haircut, to go shopping, and to go to the "cranberry" (the library). She was so still for her haircut and so pleased by the result. I was surprised how much she enjoyed shopping. She walked around like she owned the place, picking up assorted items that she liked, and holding them up to herself. She found a pair of sunglasses she liked, and then when I told her it was time to go she said "I'm picking a beautiful shirt!". We also spent time in the library where she included me in all her pretend games like "grocery store" and "cooking supper". She requested McDonald's for supper and oreo ice cream afterwards, and enjoyed opening all her presents, of which she was very protective. She often reminds her sisters when they try and play with her presents "That's mine! I got it for my birthday!".

 

Lily at 3

Favourite foods: cereal, waffles, any snack food (her most used phrase is "I'm so hungry!")
Favourite movie/shows: Guardians of the Galaxy, Tinkerbell or any fairy movie, Monsters Inc, Minions

Favourite book: any animal book

Scared of: sharks, random noises

Loves to: dress up, dance, colour, stick stickers on everything, exercising with mum

Hates: being left behind, taking medicine, getting her teeth brushed

 

I feel like there is so much to say about Miss Lily.

Lily hates brushing her teeth so much, and she is very picky about the flavour of toothpaste. She will come up with 1000101 questions asked in rapid succession to avoid having to put the toothbrush in her mouth. "Is it watermelon? Is it Paw Patrol toothpaste? Is it spicy? I like your earrings? Do you have mascara on? Look there's a picture of Jesus."

She's about 25lbs and is still missing her 2 year molars. She has been potty trained since Halloween, and was possibly my easiest. 

She still naps multiple times a week. Normally just crashes wherever she happens to be...on the floor, on the couch, in her rocking chair, in the car, or even sitting at the island with her head on the counter like a little drunkard. She's usually a grump when she wakes up though.

She is quite chatty and easily picks up on phrases that are used around the house. She went through a period of calling us "Gordon" or "Morgan", or when she didn't like something I said or asked her to do "Excuse me?! I don't think so." or "NO THANK YOU!". She has a fair amount of sass.

Me: It's time to brush your teeth

L: I don't want to brush my teeth

Me: well that's too bad

L: I guess it is!

Me: Lily what do you have?
L: *shows me something that doesn't belong to her* It's probably not mine

Me: Ok can you put it back?

L: It probably is mine

Watching from her car seat as Scarlett runs to her door after school drop off  "HUSTLE SCARLETT!"

One of my favourite things she used to say was "Thank you much!", now it's mostly "Thank you old lady" or "Thank you booger"

She has quite a flair for the dramatics (like the rest of my crew), so when she gets all worked up I've started telling her to "blow out her candles", and I do 4 deep breaths and blow in her face. One day when she was on the verge of hysterics, she said "Mum *sob*, I *sob* need to *sob* blow my candles".

Lily has a weird obsession with Guardians of the Galaxy, and Groot in particular. The only birthday present she asked me for was a Groot stuffie. She loves watching the Groot shorts on Disney plus and frequently attempts to speak like Groot. Lately she's taken an interest to all the Guardians characters, and when I mentioned the name Peter one evening she came up to me and said "Peter? Like raccoon?" (raccoon meaning Rocket from the movie). She had remembered Christ Pratt's character was named Peter. She also told me I should be Drax for Halloween. 

Once our budgie Zapi was flying around and I said to Lily "Is he saying cheep cheep?". She replied "No, he's saying I AM GROOOOOOT!"

 

She loves to request songs in the car, but 9/10 has no clue what the song is called and I have to guess what she wants from her description. The "shark" song is the Jaws theme song. The "Amber" song is a random song from a very specific episode of Sofia the First. Sometimes I just give up and say "There isn't a song for that." She is often singing nursery rhymes, primary songs, or songs from kids youtube.

She loves to read about animals and wants to know what every animal "says". Thanks to YouTube she can. If anyone is ever curious about what a puffin, walrus, fox, or peacock sounds like I'm your girl.

Lily is mischievous and has a knack for getting herself in tricky situations. At the science center last summer she managed to get herself stuck head first in the netted space where the kids launch foam rockets (I was distracted by two of my kids fighting over said rockets). Just this week she managed to slip between the netting at an indoor playground and get stuck under the play structure. Once when I took her to the playground with Brooklyn, Brooklyn had asked me to help her with the monkey bars, and while I was doing that Lily disappeared. She found a gap in a fence and went into some random person's yard to jump on their trampoline.

Her mischief doesn't stop there. She can sneak things out of your pocket without you noticing. She has made off with my phone more than once, and when I catch she says "I picked your pocket!". Once Isaac was letting her pretend to do his hair and she dumped a bottle of aloe vera on his head. She killed 3 lego mini figures by melting them in the toaster. 

After grocery shopping one day, before I had got to putting away all the groceries, I found her hiding behind the coats with a pack of smarties, of which she had already consumed half. When I caught her she said "Oh I found smarties! You want some?" When I said no and asked her to put them away, she quickly shoved as many as she could into her mouth. 

We have thankfully outgrown her knack for creating cave drawings all around the house. I have gone through more magic erasers with her than my entire span of motherhood.

You can be sure though that if I ask who was behind some shenanigan she will be the first to yell "It's not me!".

She is quite independent and will take matters into her own hands if she doesn't get what she wants. Once I wouldn't let her measure the baking powder. I had pulled it out in preparation, and when I needed it, I couldn't find it or Lily. Finally I discovered her behind the couch with the baking powder and a measuring cup she had procured for herself, carefully measuring it out and dumping it on the floor. I have often found her with a bowl full of chocolate chips or other snack which she decided she felt like having. She dresses herself, insists on showering herself, takes herself to the bathroom, and has recently taken to pouring herself her own drinks, which is not my favourite thing.

Lily is very girly and always wants to do makeup (pretend or real)... She often has a purse or some type of accessory with her. She also likes to play house.

 

 

She went through a period where everything was accompanied by a throaty evil laugh.

Lily loves playing with babies and one of my favourite things is to listen to her shush them or help them feel better. Once in a while she gets tired of playing mum and one day when her babies were lying in the middle of the floor I said "Lily can you pick up your babies, they're sad, they're crying." She yells back "They're not real mom!"

She loves so deeply. She is always giving me the biggest hugs and kisses and says things like "I love you so much!" She loves her siblings, and is especially close with Mia and Brooklyn. She sees Mia like a second mother and Brooklyn is her playmate. But she does love all of them immensely. One evening we asked each of the kids what makes them happy. The first thing Lily said was "Brooklyn" and when we asked for a second thing she said "Scarlett".  When Isaac asked if he could be her best friend she shrugs and says "I guess so!".