Three years goes by so fast when you are watching your child grow up!
I can't believe my baby girl is already 3!
The last 3 years with Nakiah have been more than I could ever have hoped for.
She's brought more love, laughter and smiles into my life than I ever thought possible and she continues to amaze me every single day!
She is my sensitive, independent, polite, little spit fire. She's got just enough attitude to make things interesting and a giant sugary sweet heart that makes me melt. She is funny and smart and loves to help. She has an imagination that pulls you into her world and playing pretend is one of her favorite things to do.
She has mastered the computer and really enjoys her 'work'. She likes to do projects and something as simple as stapling paper can keep her occupied for a significant amount of time....as long as someone holds the paper for her. Nakiah likes to be involved in everything you are doing, even chores. She loves to help with laundry, dishes, sweeping, moping, you name it... she wants to help. One of her favorites is cooking (which we all know she doesn't get from her mom!). If you are in the kitchen, she wants to be right beside you on her stool, or better yet, standing on a chair. She asks for cakes and brownies quite often, not because she likes to eat them, but because she likes to mix it!
As much attitude as she has, Nakiah has a very sensitive side to her. She can get her feelings hurt pretty easily and still needs Mommy's loves to make things better, which, as far as I am concerned, can continue for years!! She still lets me cuddle (okay, smother) her most of the time and is pretty generous with her hugs and kisses. She will say "I sooo love you" out of the blue and she is, most of the time, concerned with making sure that she points out her love for everyone is equal.
Nakiah is a fabulous big Sister. She absolutely loves her Brother! This morning she climbed into his crib and said to Kicen "I love you brother, you're the best brother I ever seen". (Mommy's heart melted!!) She always tries to make him laugh when he gets upset and she is already looking out for him.....or tattling on him ;-). She thinks that if Brother laughs at something she does, its must be okay to do, whether Mommy thinks so or not.
She loves to go, go, go. Most days she tells me "I want to go somewhere place" and usually on the way home from 'somewhere place' she tells me "no want go my house". I do my best to keep her busy, wearing myself (and Auma) out in the process. She is going to be a tough kid to keep up with.
Nakiah LOVES kids, especially the older kids. She wants so badly to play with every child she sees and doesn't understand when some of the older kids don't pay attention to her. She makes friends very easily and isn't afraid to approach a group of children playing at the park. She has a blast running around with everyone, and isn't afraid to remind them that there is "no climbing up the slide", usually with a finger shaking in the air. I guess she listens to me after all. ;-)
Nakiah can be a bit bossy, but she's still young enough that its sort of cute. I can totally see how I will be eating my words in a few years, but for now I'm just glad that she can think for herself. She most definitely has strong opinions about certain things, and isn't afraid to let me know. She certainly gets that from her Mommy, I'm just hoping she has enough of her Daddy in her to even that out a bit.
Nakiah likes to have fun. She's learning how to joke with people and does things just to make us laugh. In the car, she continuously asks me "are we there yet" because she thinks its funny. Her newest game is to point to EVERY SINGLE building we pass and ask, 'whats that, and whats that, and that one too?' She laughs at herself while shes doing it. She's also learning how to aggravate and loves to continue doing something if you ask her not to, for instance licking my face!
Nakiah can be a bit timid in certain situations. If there are too many people she doesn't know, or if there are men around, she gets pretty reserved and shy. She will stand right next to me, squeeze my hand and put her head down. She definitely has an understanding of strangers and reminds me often not to leave her alone, or a stranger might take her. I may have overdone the 'stranger danger' with her.
My sweet baby girl has the best manners! I'm a very proud Momma when it comes to Nakiah's politeness. She uses please and thank you more than most children and is always aware of people around her. We've been complimented more than a few times on how polite and well behaved Nakiah is and, for me, that's one of the best compliments we could get. I glow just thinking about what a great little person Nakiah is!
My baby girl is super smart. I've boasted before about her being a genius, and Nakiah just keeps proving me right. ;-) She counts to 20 with a little help at 13 and 14. From 20 she's mastered counting by 10's up to 100. (Okay, I'm pretty sure she doesn't really get the counting by 10's, but still, she's doing it!) She recognizes all of her numbers and knows that zero means there is nothing. She recognizes all of her letters, knows the sounds of most of them and knows at least one word that goes with that sound. The hardest part for her right now is deciphering between K being for Kicen and B being for Brother. Because Nakiah calls Kicen, Brother all time, when I say 'K is for Kicen' she repeats 'K is for Brother'. ~ Today, she brought me her 'P' magnet and said "look mom, 'P' says 'puh, puh, puh' for popcorn. ~ She also knows that C, R, N, K & O are for all of our names and we're working on learning how to spell Nakiah.
Nakiah loves to sing! She sings along to every song she hears, whether she knows the words or not. It is absolute music to my ears!! She remembers songs she's only heard a few times and will sing many of them at random times. When we're listening to music in the car I have to sing along with her. If I'm not singing loud enough she reminds me that she "can't here your words, mom". If I don't know the words to a song she'll tell me to "keep trying."
Dancing is another favorite activity of Nakiahs. We can be in the middle of dinner and if Nakiah hears music come on the TV, she begs to get up and dance. She has her own style and moves like no other! She has a blast dancing all over the house and usually likes company on the dance floor. She really likes to copy the dance moves she sees on TV.
Nakiah is still doing gymnastics and is still completely in love with it! She is excited every week for her class and tells me most of the time 'this is so fun'. She really likes playing with the other kids and tumbling in general is a blast for her. So much so, that she has found a way to turn our living room into her own private gym. Nakiah is constantly doing handstands on all of our furniture and is upside down for the majority of every day. She has enjoyed tee ball and soccer, but for the most part gymnastics has been her favorite.
Much to my discomfort, Nakiah is becoming more and more exploratory and is getting more and more comfortable doing things on her own. While I do want her to grow, experience things and learn to deal with situations on her own, I much prefer the little girl that needs her Mommy in her sights at all times. I'm so thankful that she is developing the confidence to do things on her own, but I need her to need me. I think watching her grow up is going to be a really hard thing for me. But I'm sooo very excited for her!
Nakiah talks about going to school on a very regular basis. She tells me stories about when she was in school on Thursday when she was teeny tiny and she got to play on the playground. ;-) I'm still not quite sure where these stories come from, but I do enjoy listening to them. Nakiah asks when she'll get to go to school and she already asks if she can ride the bus. I hope her enthusiasm regarding school continues into the actual school years.
Nakiah likes to 'be in the know'. If there is a conversation going on around her, she really needs to know what everyone is talking about. She'll repeatedly asks what you are talking about, until you answer her. If your answer is not sufficient, she'll keep asking. Once she understands, she'll either try to join in on the conversation, or she'll change the conversation so that she can talk too. If a discussion is taking place she automatically thinks that people are arguing and will demand that you stop. Trying to explain to her that there was no argument is useless and all forms of conversation must stop.
Because Nakiah is such a sponge and takes in everything she sees and hears, she repeats an awful lot. Most of the time I don't even know where she hears things. So, we've had to start talking about what words we can and cannot say. The first word we experienced was "duh". I'm not a big fan, especially when it was coming from my 2 year old! So, I really worked on Nakiah not using "duh". After explaining to her that 'duh' isn't a nice word and that we should find other words to use, she would often times tell me "I not say duh, Mom". To which I would applaud her. As it turns out, she was just covering her tracks and throwing me off course.....when she was with Auma, she would say "duh" almost as a release from not being able to say it around me. One day she even asked Auma, "Mommy here?" When Auma told her no, that I wasn't there Nakiah, for no other reason than because she thought she could, said "duh". Since 'duh' we've run into the 'asking if she can say certain words' faze. The most recent request "Mom, can I say dammit?" Ummm, no.
Nakiah is my sassy pants, pretty girl. She is my Kita Jean!! She's full of love and tons of fun. She can curl up and snuggle during a movie or while reading a book and turn around and throw a bucket of water on you when you aren't looking. She loves to play pretend, eat popcorn and sleep in Mommy's bed. She's miss independent and little miss sunshine. She has an imagination and a giddy little spirit that just makes me smile. She is silly and smart and beautiful and polite. She can put a smile on my face morning, noon and night. Her hugs are more comforting and full of love than words can ever explain. Her giggle could warm the coldest heart and her kisses are sweeter than candy. She is a true blessing and honestly, an answer to years of prayers!She is my gift from God!
I'm more than blessed to be your Mom!
You are purely a ray of sunshine in my life and the most amazing little girl! You had my whole heart wrapped around you before you were ever born and I will never be able to explain to you just how much you are loved! You and Kicen are most certainly the best part of me and I could not be more proud. I continue to thank God every day for entrusting me with such wonderful children. I am so excited to see what the next year brings for you.
Happy birthday pretty girl! I love you more than words could ever explain!
~Mom
