Dear Ms. Maggie J,
The last year has been amazing, challenging and full of growth for you. I wanted to share with you a bit about your year so we can both remember in the future:
You moved up from part-time babysitter and part-time MDO to five days a week MDO and seemed to flourish with it. Having the same routine everyday during the school year helped all of us be more comfortable and at ease with our routine. You and B seemed to love being in the same place and seeing each other sometimes during the day. Sadly, it will be several years before you are in the same school, but I'm glad you had this time.
This year, you have loved wearing fluffy, fancy skirts. We have them in pink, red, and yellow and each gets worn very frequently. You also love dresses and accessories - necklaces, bows, gloves, crowns, scarves, dresses, fairy wings, costumes, purses, painted finger nails, tights, leg warmers, rings, bracelets, capes, fancy shoes, and flowers were just a part of your treasure trove.
Your favorite toys have been baby dolls. You have, perhaps a dozen. You take good care of them, including feeding them and putting them to sleep in your new doll cradle. Some have names and others do not. You have not had one favorite, but a series of them have gotten attention across the year. You have been particularly fond of purple baby, Raggedy Ann, Anne Marie, Emory, Queen Amadala, and here at the end Mr. Girl.
You started gymnastics in January. I loved getting to be part of the Mommy and me class as long as I could before the pregnancy was too far along. Daddy also joined you for the later classes. You adored getting your trophy for the M&M Olympics at the end of the season and have taken your trophy everywhere. You were too young for dance classes, but we danced everywhere around the house in tutus, leotards, and everyday clothes, alone and with me and others. You love to dance!
I love how much you love being read to. Most days you would sit and listen to books for as long as there was someone to read to you. You like a wide diversity of books from Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy through our Little Red Firetruck and Thomas the Train Books. We read a lot of books about dance; your favorites were called "Balled" and Lulu's Tutu".
This year you became a big sister to little E. You adore your brother. You give him hugs and snuggles every day. You are a great help fetching things for him and trying to calm him down. Sometimes we have to remind you to be gentle with him and that he is a person, not a doll. There are some tense moments when I worry that you might accidentally hurt him with your enthusiastic hugs or trying to pick him up, but so far we're doing fine. I love how much enthusiasm you have for "sweet baby E". You have also had several imaginary babies of your own during the year as well and created an imaginary friend named Alex that seems to be involved in alot of your adventures.
There have been challenges too, my dear. You are, as I am, very stubborn and very resistant to naps and going to sleep at night. These have been a not so good combination all year. More recently, you've taken to saying "No" to Daddy and I about everything way too often and spending lots of time in time out or losing privileges or toys as a result. It makes all of us sad and we're working on figuring out how best to teach you more appropriate responses and hoping that you'll soon learn to more consistently do as we ask. You are much better at this when rested ... hence the need for better naps and sleep at night...sigh... I wish things were a bit smoother in some of these areas and the frustrations here have been a great source of sadness and frustration for me and Daddy, but I have to believe that we will work it out soon as you grown and mature.
In happier news, you love to sing. We sing lots of silly songs and bedtime lullabies. You and Grandma also sing your special songs, which I have yet to learn all the words too. You play instruments along with your songs or dance too and it is so much fun.
I, and your Grandmothers, also love to cook with you. You help me make dinner, and perhaps more often desserts. You also cook all of us meals from your play kitchen and come up with some fascinating combinations. You are becoming an excellent kitchen help and helper all around. You are generally quite willing to help (if a little unfocused). You are best helping as part of a team and I am so proud of all the things you can now do on your own -- like dressing yourself and helping with the laundry and dishes. You have made huge strides in all that you can accomplish this year. We are so impressed and thankful for your new skills and happy helping.
You and I also craft together. I am trying to be more relaxed in this area. I adore how much enthusiasm you have for painting, drawing, and scrapbooking with me. These endeavors sometimes get messy, but more and more your drawing is growing and you're learning how to use the tools with me to create more complicated pieces. Your art adorns our home and our scrapbooks, and everywhere in between. I so hope that we continue to share this in years to come.
You have a bright, happy, personality (save the arguments noted above). You love to hug, dance, play, imagine, have tea parties and have people's direct attention. The later is more difficult of late as our time is now split among three kids. You adore having someone looking directly into your dark brown eyes and listening to your stories. You are oh, so verbal and talk in full sentences, paragraphs, and stories. You crave an audience for all of these and we try to give it to you whenever we can as you have so many fascinating things to say and to tell us about.
This letter is getting long and scratches just the surface of the great joy and happiness that are you. Most of all, sweet girl, I want you to know that you are loved, smart, beautiful and so incredibly wonderful and special. Even with the challenges that this year has brought you also bring great joy to every day. I treasure being "fancy" with you as well as all the dancing, singing, snuggling, books and excitement. You have helped me better embrace being a girl too and that is a wonderful happy thing. I feel sad that I cannot give you more attention and focus as I would like, but know that I am doing my best. Know that I so want to play all the games and do all those things you ask me too even on the days when I just can't as your brothers and Dad need me too. I think you are amazing and wonderful. I love you more each day and am so blessed to have you in my life. I cannot express how much you mean to me. I will love you forever dear girl of my heart. Thank you for all that you are and do. We are forever changed, happier, and more filled with joy for sharing in your story.
Happy Birthday!
Love,
Mom
The last year has been amazing, challenging and full of growth for you. I wanted to share with you a bit about your year so we can both remember in the future:
You moved up from part-time babysitter and part-time MDO to five days a week MDO and seemed to flourish with it. Having the same routine everyday during the school year helped all of us be more comfortable and at ease with our routine. You and B seemed to love being in the same place and seeing each other sometimes during the day. Sadly, it will be several years before you are in the same school, but I'm glad you had this time.
This year, you have loved wearing fluffy, fancy skirts. We have them in pink, red, and yellow and each gets worn very frequently. You also love dresses and accessories - necklaces, bows, gloves, crowns, scarves, dresses, fairy wings, costumes, purses, painted finger nails, tights, leg warmers, rings, bracelets, capes, fancy shoes, and flowers were just a part of your treasure trove.
Your favorite toys have been baby dolls. You have, perhaps a dozen. You take good care of them, including feeding them and putting them to sleep in your new doll cradle. Some have names and others do not. You have not had one favorite, but a series of them have gotten attention across the year. You have been particularly fond of purple baby, Raggedy Ann, Anne Marie, Emory, Queen Amadala, and here at the end Mr. Girl.
You started gymnastics in January. I loved getting to be part of the Mommy and me class as long as I could before the pregnancy was too far along. Daddy also joined you for the later classes. You adored getting your trophy for the M&M Olympics at the end of the season and have taken your trophy everywhere. You were too young for dance classes, but we danced everywhere around the house in tutus, leotards, and everyday clothes, alone and with me and others. You love to dance!
I love how much you love being read to. Most days you would sit and listen to books for as long as there was someone to read to you. You like a wide diversity of books from Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy through our Little Red Firetruck and Thomas the Train Books. We read a lot of books about dance; your favorites were called "Balled" and Lulu's Tutu".
This year you became a big sister to little E. You adore your brother. You give him hugs and snuggles every day. You are a great help fetching things for him and trying to calm him down. Sometimes we have to remind you to be gentle with him and that he is a person, not a doll. There are some tense moments when I worry that you might accidentally hurt him with your enthusiastic hugs or trying to pick him up, but so far we're doing fine. I love how much enthusiasm you have for "sweet baby E". You have also had several imaginary babies of your own during the year as well and created an imaginary friend named Alex that seems to be involved in alot of your adventures.
There have been challenges too, my dear. You are, as I am, very stubborn and very resistant to naps and going to sleep at night. These have been a not so good combination all year. More recently, you've taken to saying "No" to Daddy and I about everything way too often and spending lots of time in time out or losing privileges or toys as a result. It makes all of us sad and we're working on figuring out how best to teach you more appropriate responses and hoping that you'll soon learn to more consistently do as we ask. You are much better at this when rested ... hence the need for better naps and sleep at night...sigh... I wish things were a bit smoother in some of these areas and the frustrations here have been a great source of sadness and frustration for me and Daddy, but I have to believe that we will work it out soon as you grown and mature.
In happier news, you love to sing. We sing lots of silly songs and bedtime lullabies. You and Grandma also sing your special songs, which I have yet to learn all the words too. You play instruments along with your songs or dance too and it is so much fun.
I, and your Grandmothers, also love to cook with you. You help me make dinner, and perhaps more often desserts. You also cook all of us meals from your play kitchen and come up with some fascinating combinations. You are becoming an excellent kitchen help and helper all around. You are generally quite willing to help (if a little unfocused). You are best helping as part of a team and I am so proud of all the things you can now do on your own -- like dressing yourself and helping with the laundry and dishes. You have made huge strides in all that you can accomplish this year. We are so impressed and thankful for your new skills and happy helping.
You and I also craft together. I am trying to be more relaxed in this area. I adore how much enthusiasm you have for painting, drawing, and scrapbooking with me. These endeavors sometimes get messy, but more and more your drawing is growing and you're learning how to use the tools with me to create more complicated pieces. Your art adorns our home and our scrapbooks, and everywhere in between. I so hope that we continue to share this in years to come.
You have a bright, happy, personality (save the arguments noted above). You love to hug, dance, play, imagine, have tea parties and have people's direct attention. The later is more difficult of late as our time is now split among three kids. You adore having someone looking directly into your dark brown eyes and listening to your stories. You are oh, so verbal and talk in full sentences, paragraphs, and stories. You crave an audience for all of these and we try to give it to you whenever we can as you have so many fascinating things to say and to tell us about.
This letter is getting long and scratches just the surface of the great joy and happiness that are you. Most of all, sweet girl, I want you to know that you are loved, smart, beautiful and so incredibly wonderful and special. Even with the challenges that this year has brought you also bring great joy to every day. I treasure being "fancy" with you as well as all the dancing, singing, snuggling, books and excitement. You have helped me better embrace being a girl too and that is a wonderful happy thing. I feel sad that I cannot give you more attention and focus as I would like, but know that I am doing my best. Know that I so want to play all the games and do all those things you ask me too even on the days when I just can't as your brothers and Dad need me too. I think you are amazing and wonderful. I love you more each day and am so blessed to have you in my life. I cannot express how much you mean to me. I will love you forever dear girl of my heart. Thank you for all that you are and do. We are forever changed, happier, and more filled with joy for sharing in your story.
Happy Birthday!
Love,
Mom
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