The Sweetest Thing . . .

It's been a good long while since I posted an update but there are certain things that cannot be missed . . . a certain sweet, smart, beautiful girl I know turned 3 last Saturday.

This is an open letter to my Sweetpea in honor of her 3rd birthday:

Dear Princess Sweetpea Doctor Sydney Ballerina Coco Pop,

This has been a tremendous year and you, my angel, have grown into the sweetest, most wonderful and adorable little girl I could have imagined. You have a BIG personality and though I'll never find the words to truly capture the beautiful spirit that I witness every day, I want to share a few of my favorite things about you at 3 years old:

-You're a tomboy and a princess. You would throw yourself face-first down a slide if I'd let you but you've also got a keen eye for beauty and stop to observe it at every opportunity.  We can't walk past a flower without stopping to smell it or look out the window on a snowy day without discussing the snowflakes. I hear "wow, it's so pitty (pretty)" several times each day.

-You love your birthday. You don't often wear dresses but when it came time to pick something to wear for your birthday it was extremely important to you that you "be like a pincess (princess)" so you chose the pinkest dress we could find and said "wow, I gonna be so excited" every time we looked at it before your big day arrived.

You told me every day for a month that you wanted a chocolate cake and presents and a party.  On many days the first thing you said when you woke up in the morning was "is it my birthday yet?"

-You have a tremendous sense of humor, fun and just plain happiness. You smile, laugh, giggle and squeal no less than a hundred times a day.  You're amazingly joyful and virtually everything you see, hear and do is hilarious . . . 

Even duckface selfies with mommy.

- You love to pretend. You can play dress up all day long. . .

- You love to sing and make up songs about everything we do. Everything. Songs like "Mommy's driving the car and we're gonna pick up Kadie from school and I'm singing a song." You always give me an impish smile and sing louder when I say "Did you just make that up? I love it!"

- You're already fiercely independent. When I take you to art class you want to do everything "by myself, mommy, my wanna do it!" You almost always say "Daddy's gonna love it!" when you're done.

- You're kind. Polite. More often than not you say "please" and "thank you" and a few times even "have a nice day" or "nice to meet you" to store clerks. And lately, even after a tantrum (which is happening less and less) you come up to me afterwards and say "my sorry, mommy, my feel better now."

- You love your family, especially your brother.

You give him hugs and kisses and love, love, love to play tag and bingo and old maid with him. Your bond is so special and pure and beautiful and it makes my heart soar to see you together.

These are just a few of the many, many things I adore about you, Sydney.  Happy birthday, my angel! I love you, Stinky Face.

Mommy