Happy Birthday Afton Adele

1. Afton has a preciously tender heart.

2. She loves her sister.

3. She loves "teaching."

4. She loves eating "jewee" and watching her shows. This is her weekend treat with Daddy.

5. She doesn't like to see anyone sad.

6. She wants to understand EVERYTHING.

7. She likes to wear her "unnies only".

8. She hates not being able to brush her hair like Mommy and Sissy do, but she knows it is because she has beautiful curly hair.

9. If she wants to praise someone she often tells them the have beautiful curly hair no matter what kind of hair they have.

10. One of her favorite phases of late is "Not at all." which she says in a hilarious mysterious whisper.

11. She knows one way to always crack Mommy up is to say pretty much anything in that mysterious whisper of hers.

12. Her default response to anyone she meets is to LOVE them.

13. Every morning when Daddy is leaving for work she says "Daddy, I need to tell you a question. You need to find apples." We have no idea what she means, but now I am pretty sure he couldn't leave without hearing it.

14. She loves dancing.

15. Her favorite pretend friends are the characters from Little House on the Prairie, particularly Mr. Edwards.

16. Anytime she falls down she says, "I fall down like Carrie!"

17. She knows lots of songs.

18. She loves listening to "her songs" in the car.

19. She is a good sharer.

20. She has a teachable heart.

21. She works really hard at learning to be patient and brave.

22. She knows all of the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23.

23. She loves to catechize her sister.

24. After she finishes every meal she asks for "sumpin else."

25. She still loves her matesie and she still sucks her thumb. Mickey Mouse, not so much.

26. She wants to do everything her cousin Scout does.

27. She scares kinda easily and runs to Mommy says "Take care of me!"

28. She is full speed ahead.

29. She is really good at drinking out of a big girl cups but sometimes she still asks for an "ippy" cup.

30. She loves going to church.

31. She loves other kids all of whom she calls "friends."

33. She loves all of her family members and speaks of them often.

34. She copies Mommy all day long.

35. She listens well.

36. She is in a phase of saying lots of nonsense words.

37. She loves playing "driver's game" with Daddy. (Wii Mario Cart)

39. She calls ice skating "icing" and she does a hilarious imitation of it.

40. Her favorite song is "Once Upon A Dream" from Sicka Booty only she calls it "I Know You".

41. Sicka Booty is what she has called Sleeping Beauty since she was about a year and a half old and no matter how old she gets I will never let her stop.

42. She has a huge arsenal of bedtime stalling tactics.

43. She loves weddings and asks me all the time who she is going to marry and what her wedding is going to be like. A wedding to her is not the ceremony but the dress. "Who is going to put my wedding on me, Mommy?" is a question I am asked at least once a day.

44. Right now Silas Walker is the number one contender of who she will marry. She wants to marry Sissy, but I told her it needs to be a boy and it needs to be someone from a different family.

45. One of her favorite times of day is "watie" time with Sissy and Daddy.

46. She loves the library. (Too bad we can never go back. Don't ask.)

47. "Daddy, I berry love you."

48. She loves to hold Mommy's shopping list and to remind me what we need to buy. It can actually be quite helpful.

49. She loves to carry bags around and to pretend she is going on trips.

50. If you seem sick she will immediately cover you with a blanket and say, "Aww, what's the matter sweetheart?"

51. "If You Listen" is her favorite song to be sang to her when she is having a hard time going to sleep at night.

52. It takes her about 30 seconds to fall asleep for her nap. For bedtime it is a lot, lot longer.

52. Her favorite two restaurants are Chickie A and PoteYay.

53. She loves grocery stores that have cars instead of carts.

54. Target and Kroger are Targret and Krogret. I love that.

55. We have adopted so much of her baby talk into our family vocabulary that words like yotes and watie are all Ponder has ever heard and Afton continues to use them even though the real words are in her reach now.

56. She is trying to learn how to dress herself. She is so eager to do so that sometimes she get very frustrated.

57. She is very cuddly after naps and very happy when she sees how happy I am to see her.

58. She sits in a big girl chair at the dinner table now and at all restaurants.

59. She loves "reading" her Bible.

60. She loves actually walking on walks now instead of riding in the stroller.

61. She gets really sad and scared when reading the story of The Fall and Adam and Eve disobey.

62. She calls Adam and Eve Adam and Steve. (We have a Papa Steve and Uncle Adam in the family.)

63. She loves watching videos of herself.

64. She loves watching "Oww Charlie."

65. She loves making suggestions and ending them with "That's a great idea?!"

66. If you suggest something she doesn't like she says, "That not be a great idea."

67. She loves routine.

68. She loves Bible Story Time.

69. The lyrics "I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart" genuinely crack her up.

70. She can keep a melody surprisingly well.

71. "That's a yucky one!" is her all-purpose phrase of dislike.

72. She tells us that things she doesn't want to do or use are "nigh nigh." (Carrots are nigh nigh. Toothbrush is nigh nigh.)

73. "I don't want tickled."

74. She is not a princess, she is Tinkerbell.

75. She puts a crook finger up to her head to "think about it."

76. She loves helping with "Munion" at church.

77. She loves playing with "fudoe" (Play Do).

78. She loves coloring.

79. She loves going to class and bringing home pictures for Daddy.

80. She loves Sunday School.

81. She is getting pretty good at helping pick up the front room.

82. She wrote a song about picking up and it goes like this "Clean up! Clean up! Clean up, everybody, and share."

83. She doesn't like to be left alone ever for a second.

84. She loves birthday parties and is already looking forward to turning four.

85. She is very protective of her Sissy.

86. She loves being read to.

87. She loves the idea of helping Sissy learn potty.

88. She can go potty with no help at all and hasn't had an accident in nine months.

89. She presses her boundaries to find out what is and is not okay, but for the most part is very obedient.

90. She is quite impressionable.

91. She has an amazing command of words for her age.

92. She knows all her animals and colors very well.

93. She knows her ABCs.

94. She can count to 20.

95. She is kind.

96. She experiences everything very intensely.

97. She has great zeal.

98. She cares for others.

99. She is three years old.

100. She will always be our baby girl.