THREE!

Canaan turned 3 on May 23rd!  She is growing up so quickly.  We are really enjoying her...she is so fun!  She is really into Dora the Explorer right now.  She was excited to see the Dora balloon and gave it a hug.  She likes to go on adventures like Dora does on her show.  Rather than make a gluten-free cake that Canaan would not even enjoy (she's not much for sweets), we had ice cream for her birthday.

 

About a month ago, Matthew single-handedly potty trained Canaan.  She has done outstanding!  I have been really impressed with her since Matthew told her we were finished with diapers.  I was skeptical, but she has done great.  She has woken us up a couple of times in the night to go to the bathroom and even wakes up most mornings dry.

Canaan still has red hair and blue eyes.  It's taken a long time, but her hair has been growing.  And it looks like it has some curl in the back.

She recently saw an allergist so we can figure out what exactly is going on with her.  She's been eating gluten-free for the past year which has helped some with the diaper rash she had, but did not completely get rid of it.  The allergist told Matthew she didn't think Canaan has food allergies (she did the skin test on her back).  So she told Matthew to bring Canaan back once she was potty trained.  She plans to have Canaan start eating gluten again for a few months so she can test Canaan for celiac's disease.  Since the doctor doesn't think Canaan has food allergies, we have taken her off soy milk and let her have dairy.  It has had no impact on her at all.

Canaan still loves Max.  She likes to play with him in the backyard.  She wants him to follow her around...which she accomplishes if she carries food around with her (we discourage this).  She cuddles with him.  She wants him to sleep in her room which he is not interested in doing.  She wants him to go with us in the car everywhere we go.  And she loves to give him treats.

She likes to pretend.  She likes to pretend she is taking care of us and cooking for us.  She also pretends like we are characters in a video she has seen or a Bible story.

Canaan loves animals and is always telling us a snake, shark, spider, etc is coming for us.

She really enjoys being outside...going to the park, taking Max to the park, going to the zoo, playing in the backyard.

She's been a good big sister over the past 6 months.  When Jude is upset, she will sing him a song.  She will hand him toys.  She tells us when he is crying and sometimes tells us he is hungry.  He loves to watch her.  As soon as he hears her voice, he starts looking for her.

Our church nursery ends at 3 years old, so Canaan has started going to big church with us.  She has done a great job so far.  I hope to be more prepared soon with a church bag with quiet activities she can do in church.  It is tough for a 3 year old to sit still and quiet for so long.

We get such joy from watching and interacting with Canaan!  We're so glad she's our little girl.