Three is a Magic Number

Leone will be three years old in a matter of weeks and she has grown outrageously in the past year!
See for yourself:

 Leone: 2 years old

Leone: present day

The amount of hair alone has tripled!

Spencer and I continue to marvel at the changes and growth she has made mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. It shouldn't be so surprising since that's what kids do...grow up...but it is miraculous! We feel as though she has officially transitioned from baby to little girl.
I shot her three year pictures today and love how many of them turned out. We picked out two of her favorite outfits and brought along a few of her favorite things (sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and of course her baby doll). We set out in the early morning to avoid the summer heat. This may have been my first morning shoot. I noticed the light was a bit more dynamic than during an evening shoot but we had the Historic Park to ourselves and that made for fewer distractions for Leone.

Leone was hot and cold when it came to having her picture taken. One moment she was loving it and then suddenly she'd pout and want nothing to do with the camera. I didn't mind because it gave us quite a variety of expressions and demonstrated the many dimensions of her burgeoning personality.

 I learned a lot from using bubbles in these pictures.

Spencer made this stool about a year ago and Leone uses it daily.

 The quilt that Leone is sitting on is the wedding quilt that my Grams made for us four years ago this month. I love the sentiment.

My mom is creating a collage on her wall of pictures of each of the grand-kids with a list of their current likes and dislikes. Interestingly enough Leone seems to enjoy everything. The only things I would say she "dislikes" are being told "no", having to sit longer than five minutes at the dinner table, and getting water in her eyes. So everything listed are things she likes or loves.

I decided to use this picture instead of a "Wordle" to document her interests this year. (A bit of explanation: Leone pronounces "Rocket ships" as "Ropet-chips" and since attending my prenatal appointments has decided that she wants to be a doctor. Also, her favorite animal at the aquarium is the Octopus.)