My daughter has friends

Ellie and Chloe

I know it sounds funny, but I truly am amazed that my 3 year old has friends... she asks if they can come over and play, she wants to be around them. My little baby that I brought home from the hospital has grown and learned to talk, and dress herself, and is potty trained... and has a little group of friends. Is this where it all starts? I have found myself taking a step back and looking at the big picture... it seems like right now, at this moment in time.. this is who Ellie is. The 3 year old. The preschooler. It has just occured to me that she will get bigger. She will get older. And when she's 10, I won't be able to imagine her any older than she is. When she's 10, 11, 12, etc, 3 will seem a million miles away. Just the other day she wanted me to pretend to feed her a bottle from one of her baby dolls. I told her that she used to drink a bottle and that I would rock her to sleep. She kept arguing with me. "No, I not a baby! I'm Ellie!" It's so weird that these things only happened 2 years ago. Of course I remember them, but of course she doesn't. She has no clue what I'm talking about when I tell her how much she loved cereal and bananas in the morning, and how she would squirt baby food out of her mouth. She thinks I'm crazy. I guess it's all happening really fast, and before I know it she'll be 10, and I'll be telling her stories from when she was 3 and she won't remember any of it. So I guess I'll just embrace Ellie the 3 year old while I can, give all the hugs and kisses I can, and let her sit on my lap, pretend to do my hair, and let her tell me that she loves me all I can.