Dearest Fin,
Your third year has been fun, busy, and loud...kinda like you!
You are such a ray of sunshine in our lives -- always quick with a smile, hug, or a "joke," you definitely prefer to remedy any uncomfortable situation with humor. You are known to laugh loudly for no apparent reason during awkward moments. If there is a moment of silence you might insert a belch or a fart to lighten the mood.
You like to tease and irritate your brother. Lordy. This year the two of you learned how to bicker and compete - constantly. I have been a referee for the past year and I don't see the end of it any time soon.
You are my little helper in the kitchen! You love to volunteer to help me prepare meals, or get the snacks out. You kinda love food in general. While I sometimes get initial complaints about eating your vegetables at dinner, you always end up chowing them down at the prospect of dessert. I remember craving sweets to the extreme when you were in my belly, and your sweet tooth is strong! Favorites are powdered sugar donuts and vanilla ice cream with sprinkles! No chocolate, though.
Favorite non-sugary food? Easily mac n cheese. Pretty sure you request this for every meal, even breakfast sometimes. I limit it to once a week but you would prefer more often. Hot dogs, cottage cheese and pickles are other frequent requests.
While you have recently developed a weird bug phobia (okay, not so weird, I hate them, too) you are still my nature girl. I think you would rather be outside in the dirt and puddles than playing with toys any day. In fact, I had a hard time thinking of presents to get you for your birthday! You tend to just want to play with all Cormac's "boy stuff." Like, you want anything he might be playing with at any given moment. Sigh.
You love singing and dancing and music in general! You have been known to belt out John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in McDonalds, at Barnes and Noble, or anywhere else where an a random audience might listen.
Finola, we love you light and fun personality! You never take anything too seriously, which is sometimes a bit frustrating, but probably a good thing in general. You are also competitive, assertive, and sometimes bossy and demanding. You have your share of typical toddler tantrums. I've learned with you that when you throw a fit, I need to just give you a moment, wait patiently in silence with an understanding look on my face, and then you clearly see your outburst was out of line and then you'll let me hug you. You say you're sorry without being prompted. You are very self-aware.
Other general things of note: you are doing AWESOME with potty training, though still need to wear a pull up at night, and there will be the occasional accident. You do things "yourself" so that makes me happy, even if I have to clean up a few more messes in the bathroom. (Our concepts of "enough TP" are not quite the same.) However, we still need to work on appropriate places to use the potty...like maybe not in one of the Lowe's display toilets.
And now, because your mama is obsessed with photos and particularly photos set to music...here is your bday slideshow. The first song is one of our favorites -- and one that really fits our life right now.
Finola, you are one of the "good things" in this life we've been blessed with that reminds me how present God is, and what is truly important every day...
Happy, happy birthday Finola!!!!
