the lucy family: 3.

mary hazel lucy, on june 29th you turned THREE!

i think their well visits (3 & 6) are mid-august just before sk goes back to school so i'll know her stats then.

these are some things i can document about hayes's 3rd year on earth…..

hayes turned 3 on our family disney cruise that mimi/papa took us on. she had the best day! who wouldn't want to spend their big day in the bahamas:)

*hayes is competitive with her sis - likes to be first, likes to have all ears & eyes on her, likes to try to talk much louder than sk so we can't hear sk, etc. we are working on this. (side note since this post has been a work in progress for a while: i threw both girls in a camp last week which helped their relationship tremendously! they are enjoying each other once again (for the most part). summer equals a lot of togetherness and everyone needs a break from time to time. each sister enjoyed her camp so very much! sk did an art camp while hayes was at the little gym.)

*hayes loves her family! both our girls do. grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles….you name it. if they share our blood then it doesn't matter how often or how few the visits….our girls put family on a pedestal.

*hayes potty trained in november because she wanted to wear big girl undies like her sister. (so the competitive nature maybe comes in handy from time to time i suppose). so the lucy fam is diaper free which is great but made me a little sad. hayes never cared much for being a baby - she wanted to be big from the get-go.

*hayes can swim like a fish! she loves dogs. she loves going to the beach & pool. she loves eating out. she loves people! she loves friends and get-togethers with other families. she loves adults and can often be found hanging out with her friend's moms or dads (she likes men a lot) instead of with other children. she loves our church! she loves to play outside but does not love for her hands to be real dirty. she loves sunday school and she loves her little preschool. she will be in the 3-day 3's next school year from 9-1 m, w, f.

*breakfast is her best meal. she usually has pancakes or waffles, scrambled eggs &/or bacon, and fruit each morning. she also likes cereal and yogurt. she loves smoothies.

*hayes loves a boat ride. she and sk love riding over to dewees island or iop and anchoring on the beach, playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean.

*there isn't one specific thing that she is completely "in to." at this age, sk never let a day go by without putting on one of her many princess dress up gowns. if we were inside the house, she was dressed up. that was her "thing." hayes likes doing all kinds of things, but doesn't really have any obsessions.

*hayes always asks us about our day…."how was work, dad?" "how was your trip, mom?" "how was school today, sis?" etc.

*she is very smart and very expressive. hayes is very busy. i could go an hour or more and not hear a peep from sk because she is lost in her pretend play in her room and is busy creating. not hayes….she checks in a lot! she's more needy. she does do all the pretend play stuff and is busy in the playroom - it's just that her play is quite loud! you always know where hayes is!

*sk never has been scared of any movie or story - she loves villains. hayes is more timid in that area. however, sk would rather not ride a roller coaster or water slide and hayes is ALL about that kind of thing - thrill seeker!

*hayes has a huge vocabulary. and many of her words are big ones and she often uses them incorrectly. for example: she told our photographer last week during our family session: "mrs. emily, but you are inappropriate." ha! she does stuff like that all the time. the other night we were over at our friend's beach house who has a spiral staircase that leads to a roof top seating area. i went up there with hayes who on the way up said, "let's just go check out this situation up here."

*hayes is the child of mine who i can count on to do everything….hayes, go let the dog out. hayes, go let the dog in. hayes, go help your sister find her shoes (because your sister actually just tripped over them and still has no clue where they are…ha! hello!). hayes, get the plates out for everybody. hayes, go get the dog a treat. even today sk asked hayes to go upstairs with her to help her pick out a bathing suit. sk still would never open any of our doors to the outside without asking. hayes takes care of hayes. i can hear her get up in the middle of the night to go tinkle. sk still calls us if she needs to leave her room for any reason. ha! just 2 different little personalities! sk is me and hayes is trey. for the most part.

she'll even do your grocery shopping.

*i'm not going to lie….3 is not my favorite age. i mean, 3 year olds are cute and all. they say and do some pretty funny stuff. hayes is actually hilarious in general. BUT…with 3 comes so many irrational fits and all that mess. there were not really any terrible 2's in our house with either girl, but 3….different ballgame. we are just rolling with it. some days are wonderful and some days are hard but it doesn't matter….we are lucky to have healthy children who are able to enjoy life. we can handle the 3s. hayes's emotional outbursts seem to leave as quick as they come. she is a sweet girl! she's just…ya know…3!

hayes taking a swim break for a blueberry muffin at mimi & papa's

i don't even know how many weeks hayes was enrolled in the ISR (infant swimming resource) program but at least 6. anyway, she graduated this past friday. she can successfully swim and then flip and float anytime she needs to rest. this is more of a survival program for really young children/babies who may fall into pools or such. it teaches them how to float and swim to safety to save their own lives. but the program also taught hayes how to swim and i really loved the consistency of it - we went every single weekday for 10 min each day. to graduate she had to go through the water in clothes (she wore her pjs) and do the swim/float thing solo. she did great and i'm glad to be done.

hayes had a birthday party at the little gym on july 13th. she had a ball!!