the tenth.

Carly was born on Monday the 10th.

She was due on the 12th, and scheduled to be induced on the 17th.

But there she was, on the afternoon of the 10th at 12:53, surprising us all.

Even now, a 10th does not go by where I don't think of the day I became a mother.

In a month, Carly will be 3 and a half. I feel like these 6 months have brought so much change and so much growth. But they are also presenting challenges.

Carly has been hard lately. You hear people say "The 3's are so much worse than the terrible 2's!". Carly was a most wonderful 2-year-old, so maybe that is the case? She is testing her boundaries, feeling around for what is right and wrong. But most of all, she is the least patient person I have ever met. And now that impatience errupts into dramatic fits and tears every single time I don't comply to her demands instantly. In all fairness, the problem has worsened since our Christmas vacation, where she was constantly catered to and entertained. And she does seem to be coming off that cloud, but we still struggle.

Bedtime, which was once seamless, is a drawn-out battle. She fights every step of the way, either throwing a fit, or running away and gleefully refusing to participate. And when Chris finally gets her in bed, she fights him over how many books to read, and how many kisses and hugs to give. It is a delay tactic, even if it is a sweet one.

We are finding that patience, patience, patience is key. Explaining things to her. She is a logical, smart girl, and often when I explain why I am saying what I am saying, she will go along with it. And then sometimes you just have to put her in the yellow chair in the corner and turn on the Scattergories timer and tell her to take a chill pill. We're all learning together.

Carly loves to dress up like princesses. We dress each other, first she is the dressmaker and I'm the princess, and then we switch. But sometimes I'm the prince, and John is Gus Gus (can you just see that for Halloween!?) and Quinn is the little old lady who came to the Ball. I don't mind spending my mornings in a tiara, that's for sure. Carly also loves to play "grocery shopping", pushing her little cart around and taking stuff from our pantry (because real food is more fun than fake, of course). She got a cash register for Christmas, and this greatly adds to the excitement, as she can play FOREVER. Like I don't have to grocery shop enough in my life. She got a LeapPad for Christmas too, and I'm amazed to watch her figure it out without help. She loves to "dance to the princess music on mommy's phone". She truly loves books. She is rarely seen without a little stack of her favorites. She loves interaction and imagination. She is not good at playing on her own, a hazard of being firstborn, I suppose. She is a social people-person, and not typically shy, something I hope she holds on to, as I was a very shy kid and still have quite a bit of shyness in me. She loves. She loves her stuffed animals and her towel. She loves her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin. She loves our little family. She loves and shows love, and that is a wonderful gift.

I'm beating a dead horse with this one, but Carly is smart. She is extremely communicative, to the point where she will talk your head off. She correctly uses words like "perhaps" and "obviously". She remembers directions to different locations. She freaks out when I turn right on a red light (how do you explain that law to a 3-year-old?! Even a smart one?!). She makes connections. Chris reads picture scriptures with her every night. We were watching Sleeping Beauty and at the beginning all those people are riding the horses and singing the Princess Aurora song. She asked "Are those the Lamanites?" And there is a character in The Testaments (her Sunday movie of choice) named Jacob: "He is Jacob just like in my picture scriptures!" And I swear, she never forgets anything. She amazes me.

Carly is truly an amazing big sister. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, she was made to be the big sister of twins. Once on Facebook someone said we knew what we were doing when we had Carly first, but I had to say it wasn't us; God knew what He was doing, because we definitely questioned it as it all went down, unsure of how successfully it would play out. Now, as the babies approach their birthday, their love for Carly and her love for them is one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed. She makes them laugh like no one else. She can entertain them like no one else. She can also lose patience with them like perhaps only me. She loves to make them laugh. She loves to play with them in the bath, particularly John, who recently just thinks she is the bee's knees. She loves to read them stories. And lately, when I am in the kitchen, I will check on them in the living room to find them all together on the floor, she is showing them how to play with a toy, or playing with them. And my heart melts, and I am grateful for the Lord's omnipotence, because He knew they would need her, and she would need them.

Carly has enjoyed preschool, and learns a lot. I do hope to get her into an actual preschool in the fall (if we can find one we can afford! what the . . . ?). I only want her to go twice a week, but she excels in new and challenging situations, and she just loves to learn new things and talk to new people. I think she will be ready for preschool in the fall. And, heaven forbid, Kindergarten the following fall? Her August birthday makes it tricky, to be old or to be young? I suppose we will cross that bridge when we get there.

But in light of that love of learning, and the fact that it is winter and we can only take so much of our little home, we signed Carly up for swimming lessons. They are pretty simple little lessons, teaching water basics. Tonight was her first one. She LOVED it. Like, really really loved it. When it was over, she didn't want to leave, and we sat and watched the older kids for a while. I finally pried her away, and she cried the whole way home, and after we got home, that she "Doesn't want to leave my swimming lessons!" She even brought up the idea that maybe Santa Claus could bring her a swimming pool for her house. It was sad but very sweet. I'm glad it was a hit. It will be a nice thing for these hardest weeks of winter.

Speaking of growing way too fast, and new and exciting adventures, this past Sunday, Carly became a Sunbeam. In our church, kids aged 3-11 go to "Primary", where they learn all the basic and simple doctrines of our Church, everything from "Jesus loves me" to scripture stories, the importance of temples, and eternal families. It is a great organization that I have the privilege of working in. Carly is 3 at the turn of the new year, so she moves up to the youngest Primary class, called "Sunbeams". The kids spend 45 minutes all together, getting a lesson and singing songs, then they move into individual classrooms by age-group and get another 45 minute lesson. It is very structured, and much different from the "nursery" where she had been going (ages 18 mo-3 years). 

She was very apprehensive at first, and I could see tears brimming in her eyes. I took her into the Primary room and showed her where she would sit. She met her teachers, who are wonderful, and then all her friends she was used to from nursery came in, and the big kids came in, and her interest was piqued. She did amazing, as did her whole class. I was split between bursting with pride and bursting with tears as I watched her, being a good and reverent and enthralled little Sunbeam. After church, she said she didn't want to leave, she loved it so much. We were literally one of the last cars out of the parking lot, and I had to tell her the doors were locked and the lights were off. I'm grateful she has a passion, not just for leaning, but for the Savior and for the Gospel.

There is a Primary song called "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam."

It is Carly's favorite.

It says:

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam

To shine for Him each day

In every way try to please Him

At home, at school, at play

A sunbeam, a sunbeam

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam

A sunbeam, a sunbeam

I'll be a sunbeam for Him

This is most perfectly our Carly.

She is our little sunbeam, full of light and life and beauty, along with a whole lot of personality, spunk, and willpower. She is so good down to the core. I want to be just like her some day.