Our Autumn Angel!

Autumn had her 3 year old check up with the doctor. She was 32.4 pounds (68%tile) and is 38.5 inches tall (83%tile). She is happy and healthy. I have noticed recently that she doesn't get sick nearly as much as Parker and Lincoln (although he is still a baby). Even when she does get sick, it doesn't last too long. She is pretty tough in general. She has always been more ADVENTUROUS than Parker (that doesn't take much though); climbing and trying new things. Although, she follows Parker's lead sometimes, when she would have otherwise been more brave. Parker is funny though. Sometimes he talks Autumn into trying something first, and then once he sees that it is safe, then he will do it too. She has been wanting a big girl bike for a while and does better on one than Parker does. They both ride fine, Parker is just a little slower because he gets nervous. Parker is just barely starting to want one himself.

We have always called Autumn, Autumn Girl, or Autumn Angel or little princess.  Lately, she doesn't want to be called princess.  But Angel is still okay.  And right now, everything is "AWESOME."  For example, "This shirt is awesome," "Do I look awesome?"   Referring to a neighbors new shoes, "Wow!  Those are awesome."  I was trying on boot after boot at the store and Autumn was helping, "Get those Mom, those are even more awesome,"  this continued for every one I tried on.  And now when I tell her she is so pretty, she says, "No, I am not pretty!  I'm awesome!"  Sometimes she says she is "So Cool!"  That causes some problems because Parker thinks that only boys can be "cool."  I am sure that you can imagine that some intervention is then needed to smooth things over.  Even still,  the other day Parker couldn't get over it and went to his room to pout about it, very loudly.  Good times!

In the Spring, we went to Las Vegas for a job interview for Paul.  Ever since then, Autumn talks about "Las Vegas."  She begs to go there again.  I finally asked her what she liked best about Las Vegas and it was the pool, her own little bed, breakfast, etc.  So I guess Las Vegas was pretty much the hotel we stayed in.  Recently she said, "that Las Vegas place is better than our house; its better than all the houses."

We also potty trained in the Spring (May-ish).  She was different than Parker in that she figured out how to go on the potty faster, but she took a little longer at figuring out when she had to go.  Luckily, we were outside a lot!  Now she is a pro and hasn't looked back.  We potty trained her at night along with Parker, who still hadn't quite mastered that.  Now they are both completely diaper free and the diaper purchasing has dramatically decreased.

Autumn's favorite COLORS are pink and purple.  But since Parker's favorite colors have recently changed from red and blue to "All of the colors, except Pink and Purple,"  Autumn's new favorite colors are "All of the colors except Red and Blue".

Autumn loves to play organized GAMES.  She says her favorite game is Hide and Seek.  She loves to sit down and play Go Fish, Memory, Pretty Pretty Princess, puzzles, etc.  She is now playing pretend more and more.  She likes to play "Mom and Dad" with Parker, which is pretty much playing "House."  It is so cute to see her talking with her toys and pretending with them.  She only will do it if she thinks no one is watching though.  Once she sees that your are watching or listening, she stops.  She loves to play with our neighbor, Noelle, and it is so fun to see her having her own friends.

She is so very SHY.  It is so different than Parker and so cute.  When somebody new tries to talk to her, she will bury herself in her Mom or Dad, or hug our legs.  Even when we pry her away (so that we can move), she won't look at the person.  She seems to get really shy around guys now too; almost like she has a little crush.  She really gets giggly when she talks about her Uncle Steven.  We had her Nursery teachers over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it took a while to get her to sit in her own seat, she was attached to me, literally.  Although, at home she can be crazy silly and a loud screamer.  Parker and Autumn are learning to work things out together, but often want to do things different ways.  It can be quite the event when they don't agree.  Autumn is all girl; so dramatic and when offended, she is LOUD!  It starts with a long cry and once you hear it there is no quick fix.  It takes extreme sensitivity and patience.

Most days I have to wet her hair down in the morning or after naps to get rid of bed head.  She doesn't always like it, but she lets me when I tell her I have to get rid of her "crazy hair."  But now when it is time for her nap, she goes and gets her hair as wet as she can in the sink.  When you ask her why, she says, "So I won't get crazy hair."  I guess she figures she might as well prevent it.  (Now she also uses this wet her hair down approach to look "awesome" when we are getting ready for the day.)  Another funny thing, I really like the song, "If I Die Young" by the Band Perry.  The kids know I like it and have heard it quite a bit.  There is a line in the song that says "the sharp knife of a short life."  Autumn was helping me make dinner one night and I was cutting vegetables.  Autumn said, "Is that a sharp knife or a short knife?"  I guess she thought (from the song) that the opposite of a sharp knife must be a short knife.  It made me laugh because she asked so seriously.

Autumn is getting so SMART.  I forget how much they are learning at this age.  The other day we were riding in the car and a song on the radio had the word "Paradise" in it.  She said, "Mom, there is Paradise Farm in our book and Paradise Falls in "Up."  It took me a second to realize what she was talking about and why she was even thinking about it, but yes she was right.  We have a book about Paradise Farm and of course, the movie, "Up" has Paradise Falls.  It still took me a minute to hear the word paradise in the song on the radio and realize what got her thinking about it.  It is really fun to see her storing all of this "information" and putting it all together.  She knows her ABC's and their sounds and can count to at least 13 before she gets lost in the teens.  She recognizes the numbers 1-8.  Parker recently had a part in the primary program and of course, Autumn had it memorized too.  I can't believe that next year she will have a part of her own.  The other day Parker was trying to talk me into bringing some more toys to the dinner table to "eat" with us.  He already had a few there and said he needed just 2 more:

Parker:  Now I just need two more.
Autumn:  I know which ones.
Parker:  Which ones?
Autumn:  Snake and Frog
Parker: [Really surprised]  How did you know that?!
Autumn:  I know fings.  I'm smart.   (You should have seen the way she said it.  Like it was so obvious, but she also knew it was kind of funny, cause she smirked.)

Autumn is such a sweet girl. She cares so much about helping her brothers and making them feel happy. And lately she has been coming up to us and saying, "What can I do to help you?" She definitely brings some softness to our family. We love our Autumn Angel!