Can I really be the mother of a 3 year old?

C's birthday was a month ago. That month has gone by like lightning. Then I think of the last three years, and I'm trying to figure out where the time went. It's all a blur, punctuated by moments of clear memories in vivid detail. Suddenly, instead of a tiny baby that admittedly was born with her own Personality but otherwise simply a baby with basically physical needs, I have a little girl with ideas, opinions and an attitude. How does so much happen in just three years--or 6 months, for that matter? Since we moved, she's learned so much, and developed so many new interests. Her latest "thing" is ballet. She's been interested since catching a snippet on a show I'd recorded. After that, coupled with her dance classes, she asked to have a ballet birthday. I asked our guests to wear their ballet gear and I made ribbon wands for C and her friends to dance with and for the girls to take home. They turned out beautifully and the girls boogied down to music from the Imagination Movers and some other Disney favorites. The preparations for the party were nothing but a labor of love. I spent several hours making ballet slipper candies and decorating a ballerina bear birthday cake. The moment she saw the cake, those hours were worth it to see her face. The girls went home with Angelina Ballerina books and ballerina coloring pages I printed from the internet. I'm pretty sure everyone had fun, not just the birthday girl, and that's my goal for her birthday celebrations.