Little Miss Alyson turned three yesterday! My oh my how time flies!

Today she had a very special girly day. First, she had a party here at home this morning with four of her friends, Natalie, Maddie, Hannah, and Hailey.

She really enjoyed decorating a bracelet, sharing stickers with her friends (and their moms!), and eating cheese and crackers. She was adamant that she wanted a Halloween cake, but she didn’t really eat much of it. Gifts were a big hit as well. She’s excited to read her new Angelina Ballerina book from Maddie, and she enjoyed playing with the fairies from Natalie with Hannah. She’s also excited to take pictures for the photo album Hannah and Hailey gave her.

After the excitement at home, Alyson and I headed over to Julep, a nail salon in the University district. As a side note, Alyson loved pointing out every single purple Husky flag in the area.

Alyson felt right at home. She settled into a chair next to me and quickly gobbled the chocolate that was waiting for her. The ladies there were fantastic and seemed to enjoy Alyson as much as she was enjoying the experience.

Alyson chose very red nail polish and was SO good. She kept her hands so very still and let her nails dry. I’m sure it helps that they have several flat-screen TVs around the salon (which is what Alyson is looking at in this picture). They have Mommy Mondays, where they have a care-giver on site to play with the kids, and they had Magic Schoolbus on TV. Alyson had plenty of time to play while my manicure was being done (hers was super-fast). My hands still smell of the lovely lavender-vanilla lotion they used.

Here our our pretty nails (and a silly face from Alyson).

Three cheers for Alyson!  She’s gone without diapers/pull-ups for a week now!  She’s even been dry overnight, more often than not.  We’re still at about 2 accidents a day, but she’s doing great!  We’re SOOOO excited!

Next Sunday, my darling daughter will be three already.  I’m not sure how that happened so quickly.  She’s definitely acting three.  She’s extremely independent, and has been testing out the word NO frequently.

She’s finally deciding that Brandon is a great playmate.  Last night they were dancing together and chasing each other around the house and playing Ring Around the Rosie.  She alternately wears two shirts (like Brandon) or no shirts (like Brandon).  She still adores Christian, but she doesn’t push Brandon away as much as she used to.   She insists she’s a boy and her new favorite color is blue (although she still chooses to wear lots of pink and is looking forward to her Hannah Montana birthday party next Monday).

She still loves her letters, and she points out every letter that belongs in her name.  She loves to color and do puzzles and play computer and video games (you should see her play Mahjong with alphabet tiles on my Mac, or Plant Tycoon).

Did I mention she cut her hair a second time?  Twice in about a week.  The first time it wasn’t really noticeable, but this time it is.  Not sure what we’re going to do about our family portraits (grumble).  But she’s cute and we love her, really.