3 1/2

Ashley cakes, you are the sweetest little girl I know. You take such good care of your brother are very proud of him. When people stop us in the store to tell you how cute you are you tell them "this is my brother, Isaiah" with such pride. You are such a little mommy to him too and he shines in your presence. You still adore your babies and take care of them like mommy takes care of you and Isaiah. Lately you've started to read outload making up the story as you remember us telling you. You recognize almost all of the letters in the alphabet and like to rhyme different words. You absorb everything we tell you repeating it later. We're amazed at the things you tell us because you pick things up from everywhere and everyone. It's fun for Papa and I to figure out where you learned these things. When Isaiah is patient you read to him facing the book so he can see the pages. Your appetite is getting better and you're trying new things. You still eat really slow like your Grandpa Timm, so we've shown you on the clock how much time you have left until we clear your plate. You negotiate how much you're going to eat separating your food into portions you're comfortable with and we push you to add a little more. When you wake up in the morning or from nap you come out of your room and sit on the steps until we see you. Sometimes you really scare mommy, especially in the morning when I haven't had my coffee! You wake me up in the middle of the night to go potty, but I don't mind because I love to wake up to your sweet voice. You're bed time routine is very important to you. After getting ready and reading books you get all "organized". We fluff your pillow, straighten the blanket you sleep on, make sure your other blanket is rolled up just right and on your left side next to your two bears, then your angel is on your right and you snuggle with your snugglie. Then spell your name with the letters on the wall and blow out the light. You make the same comment every night how you can't see your butterfly hanging above your bed and we blow you a kiss and lights out. You also make sure Brody is not in the room and the door is shut. One time when Grandpa Timm put you to bed he left it open and you got very upset. He obviously didn't know the routine, but quickly learned! One more really sweet thing is you wave to the cars that stop to let us cross the street. It warms my heart to see the smiles on their faces.

Making sure her babies are well rested.

I guess it was cold and sunny in the house when she decided to color this picture!