Sweet little lady

This little lady has gotten so big lately. She is so interested in learning, and really doing anything that seems "grown up". She is starting to like Dora the explorer less and less, while becoming more into princesses, Disney Fairies and Barbies. Yikes! We are trying to delay the barbie thing for as long as possible! She is such a great little mommy, as Graham is getting more mobile, and thus into everything, she watches him like a hawk. If he sticks anything in his mouth, she is sure to grab it and gently scold him for doing so. (She still doesn't really get that he doesn't understand those things yet) 

She is hilarious, she tells jokes and repeats EVERYTHING she hears. She tells the best, and longest stories ever, I love coming home from work and having her tell me about her day. That girl can talk, and talk, and talk. She just loves to engage in conversation. She makes friends wherever she goes, and plays so well with others, except her brother. Now that he can get into her stuff she likes him a little less. But she still loves him to death, she can't stop kissing him and giving him hugs, to the point where he just wants her out of his face. He bugs her, she bugs him...and repeat. Is this an insight to the rest of their life? Probably. 

Graham certainly loves his older sister, he just thinks she walks on water. Everything she tells him he thinks is funny, no one can cheer him up like she can. He gets so excited at the rare occasion that she lets him play with her. When he wakes from his nap, she perks right up and says "Graham needs me!" And she will go upstairs and play with him in his crib for another 15-20 mins, until he really wants to get out. It's such a blessing, those little things are so very helpful!

She is still a typical 3 year old in the naughty department. But I will sing her praises at her progress. She is very polite, and has gotten a lot better at listening to directions and following rules. It's quite funny when I have a little verbal exchange with her, because she sounds exactly like me sometimes. For example:

"Eve, will you pick up your toys please?"

"No thank you." 

"Thanks for saying that so nicely, but it's time to pick up your toys." 

"I'll get to it, don't worry"

"Eve, (getting sterner) please pick them up now, mom asked you nicely"

"And I nicely said NO THANK YOU"

So although, technically the manners are in use, the tone or message isn't always nice. She will eventually do as told (most times). It's always interesting to somehow get a message across to this one. She is very smart....she can talk her way into or out of anything. 

Aside from the 3 year old behavior, she is still very sweet. Just the other day, we were watching a show together while Graham was napping, and I started to fall asleep. Big surprise there. And Eve, so sweetly came over, stroked the side of my face, and kissed my forehead. She softly said "night night sweet little lady, I love you." Melted my heart! I cherish that moment, and knew that although we butt heads, we really love each other, so much. She is so kind to just understand that mommy is tired, and not be disappointed that I couldn't stay awake to watch with her. She was satisfied to just have me present. She let me take a nice nap, until the movie ended, then she woke me to tell me to put on another show for her.