4 months & 3 YEARS OLD!!!!!!

MYA IS 3!!!
she LOVED her birthday and being showered with love all day, starting from the morning when we were all telling her happy birthday, to all the birthday events after school we got her chick fil a (b/c chicken nuggets are her favorite!), HUGE paw patrol balloon & a small white cake that had a '3' and 'happy birthday' candle on it. of course, she was extra happy because she received tons of valentines at school too and they also presented her with a birthday crown at school and i'm sure she secretly (or maybe not so secretly) enjoyed all the extra attention around her. she saw the birthday crown on our dresser the next morning and demanded to wear it. carlo actually asked if she wanted to take it off before dropping her off at school (usually she takes off all her hats with no prob) but she wanted to keep it on. in looking at the daycare pictures, she actually kept in on til about noon.. what a queen!
we celebrated over the weekend too - unfortunately carlo had to work so we did some activities without him. we kept our tradition of visiting ducks at a pond (like we did last year in brooklyn), and she had fun. after that, we got donuts and she (maybe not so) surprisingly finished a WHOLE donut by herself. it was pretty big. i was a little nervous that she was going to have a terrible sugar crash or be super cranky from not having 'real' food for lunch, but it actually wasn't the case. she didn't end up napping but she was happily playing in bed by herself when i saw her on the monitor.. probably just too ecstatic. hehe. love our girl :) she's still a baby at times but i know she is going to be a big girl soon.. enjoying her the way she is while we have it. we're starting potty training this weekend right as she turns 3 - another symbol of her growing up!! she'll be getting her birthday presents then, since the day itself was eventful enough WITHOUT the presents and we wanted her to actually have time to enjoy them. WELP, we'll have to be at home all weekend with a hawk-eye on her, so she'll get to enjoy them then!

mya
helps turn off the TV -
loves arts & crafts! we did one at home with her for the first time now that it's more age appropriate and she looked so proud painting herself.
can now draw both happy AND sad faces
new fav bath toy is a baby shark water bottle where she likes to collect bubbles and also dip her comb in there before combing her hair
started wearing ponytails and enjoying having her hair up! we've put off b/c she usually pulls her hats and anything off her head immediately when we put it on
started liking to pull off her pants - i think b/c she sees other kids at school doing it so she wants to do it herself
getting better at climbing into her bed now and anticipating sleep.. for a while she was always a party child at night, but we weren't really enforcing her schedule.. back at it again!
stopped taking naps at school 90% of the time, so going to bed around 7:30-7:45 nowadays. i think a couple months back, she would go to bed around 8:30. we like this earlier schedule!
food -- no new discoveries, really, though i did buy pineberries for the first time (like white strawberries) and she LOVED those. i commented how beautiful they were a few times and now she specifically calls them "beautiful strawberries" lol
had our first parent-teacher conference - and they said she's finally starting to come out of her shell (FINALLY, after a year!)
mya is such a silly girl with a vivid imagination :) we love it so much!

 jackson
a very consistent 2 wakeups now! usually around 1, and 5
schedule is more predictable now in terms of wake times and nap times in the day. he typically naps from like 8-9, then again around 12, and then at 3. is awake for a long time when daddy + mya gets home, then takes a short nap around 6:30-7 and typically officially sleeps at around 8:30-9:00
kicks very strongly now!
looks really excited when he's kicking on his playmat. still loves chatting! especially loves when we do or look at new things. his face don't lie! Mya was always stone-faced so we could never tell if she was enjoying anything we did
loves touching and caressing us! i feel like he knows when he's touching us and particularly touches it more gingerly, vs just a random object.
can put him down to sleep easier nowadays (most of the time he stays asleep when i lay him in the bed in the middle of the night, vs having to try multiple times or over 30 minutes)
starting being able to grab items with his hand now
seems to like being on the changing table
easily distracted - esp when eating. if there's a loud sound or if i'm talking, he won't be able to eat
about 21 inches tall now

mya still loves jackson!
she likes to touch his cheeks and still suffocate and squish him with hugs, lol. her nickname for him is "JACKSON PAWS" (no idea where that came from, maybe from her classmates who are obsessed with paw patrol..). i also love how she says "JACKSONNN" like a mature and sassy adult.
she likes to be in charge of the pacifier for him when he's in the car and honestly gives it a good try to help calm him down whenever he's crying by giving him hugs and saying things like "awww" (but ultimately it's never successful)

in other news, we attended our first kids' birthday party together! (devi's)
of course, mya was very shy and reserved. jackson seemed to love it more than she did - he was awake and wide-eyed the whole time and we were there for over 2 hours. he barely only complained at the end from being hungry. of course he knocked out immediately in the car when we left, lol.
there was a loud spiderman character for like the first hour or so and mya didn't like that at all (no surprises there) but she also didn't want to leave! she munched on veggie straws and was loving the juice. mostly sat on the side observing everything. she finally warmed up a bit more when a face painter came and got her face painted (she chose an owl). when the line died down later after everyone was distracted with cake, i had her go again so she could get he hand painted (she picked a dalmation dog). that was probably her favorite part of the party lol, maybe that and the treat bag that they put together for all the guests.. forgot what was in there exactly (some random toys, a baby shark water bottle, paw patrol sunglasses)