Annabelle turned 3 on Wednesday. She got to celebrate, and celebrate, and celebrate! We started with a Mystery Ride to Oracle Arena on March 9
th, for the Disney Princess Wishes on Ice. She dressed in her favorite princess dress and was mesmerized throughout the entire show. It's a tough call to decide who enjoyed it more between Wyatt and Annabelle...we wouldn't have really guessed that one...but it was a fun family day none-the-less!
(This is me trying to take a picture of her while she's on my lap...it didn't really capture the moment!)
What a handsome king!
And this is how the goofy one wears it!
Next was a big family birthday party last Friday. Grandma and Grandpa were here from Washington and we had the rest of the
Mundelius clan here, too. We have 5 March birthdays in our family, so it was kind of a party for everyone.
Eatin' some pizza with the cousins.
Maile and
JJ carefully watching AB blow out her candles!
A pinata fit for a princess!
Then on Wednesday, her actual b-day, Annabelle got to choose where she wanted to go for dinner. She chose "the Pinata Restaurant", which is actually called La
Ultima. They have a pinata that the kids can choose a piece of candy from, so it is now officially renamed in our family. We had some ice cream and came home to open her presents from us. I'm pretty sure her favorite one is the pink
sparkley shoes that came in the box with Cinderella on it!
Pretty, Pretty Princess game...it's actually cute and fun!
Okay, now on to who Annabelle is right now...
Annabelle keeps us laughing all the time. She is goofy and playful. One of her favorite things to do is dress up in one of her dress-up dresses and dance around as she's singing songs. Sometimes the songs are ones you might recognize, other times they are a stream of consciousness. One afternoon, recently, we were out in front of our house where there is a large boulder. I walked out to find Annabelle standing on the boulder singing some song about the trees and leaves and flowers...and then when she found her reflection in the big window, the movements started and the singing became louder! It way hysterical! I watched her watch herself singing for quite a long time...
She also loves to pretend. She will go off somewhere and be fully entertained by whatever she finds. Usually, she'll take what she finds and it will turn in to a tea party, or she's making stew or something like that. It sometimes creates a pretty big mess, but she is so entertained!
She does well in chaos. When I drop her off in the morning at her
pre-school, it's usually pretty crazy. I think there are some pretty rambunctious boys in there, there are parents coming in and out, and not all of the teachers are there, yet. Annabelle's way of dealing with it is by going down to the carpet where they have circle time and just waiting....waiting...and waiting until circle time starts. I watched from the window the other day as kids were running around her, kids screaming that they want their mommies, others playing with various toys, and all she did was sit there and watch them all! Each time I drop her off, I encourage her to play, but she ALWAYS says, no I'll sit on the carpet for circle time.
Annabelle has started piping up with bits of knowledge that has surprised us! With Wyatt, we can always tell he's working on figuring something out (I think it might be the constant questions!), but she doesn't do that, so it isn't as easy to observe. She knows lots of letters, can ALWAYS pick out an A for Annabelle! And many times will beat Wyatt to the punch when we're asking him a question (and we didn't think/know she knew the answer!). She's getting rhyming with made up words and real words, which as a teacher does my heart proud! That is a great indicator of phonemic awareness which is the basic building block for reading.
She is sweet, tender-hearted and caring. She makes our hearts smile! Happy 3rd Birthday,
Annabelley Gamelley!!!
