Dear Anna,
You make me proud every single day that I’m your Mommy with the polite,
sweet, and loving girl you have become.
Watching you learn something new, process cause and effect, expand your
vocabulary and learning to care, show empathy, and genuine concern for others
is priceless. You make a long day at
work melt away with your smile and I have no cares in the world when you come
in for a big bear hug.
You’re not only expanding your vocabulary, but you also understand what
to say and when. You’re great at saying
please and thank you without being prompted (thank you more than please, but
we’re working on it) and communicate your thoughts and sentences with the
clearest and sweetest little voice. You
continue to mimic phrases and sayings and repeat them back to us with the
correct cadence and timing, and it’s simply adorable. This past month you really got into saying
“oooohhhh my goodness” and “ooohhh my goodness gracious” when something struck
your fancy. And just today you repeated
“holy moly” back to me and I almost died.
You’ve also captured many a heart this Christmas season with “Ho Ho Ho,
Merry Christmas”, complete with your little arms spread wide apart. Watching you process a new phrase allows me
to literally see the wheels turn in your head; you often will repeat something
several times to yourself before saying it back to us and then before we know
it, the words are a regular part of your vocabulary.
You're able to communicate very clearly with little transition most of
the time and are able to tell us what you want and when you want it,
unfortunately we don’t always agree. As
I write your letter, you are sick with strep throat, but it’s not getting much
better. You were able to tell us that
your throat hurt and were the model patient at the doctor’s office, even when
they did the horrible throat swab. It’s
killing me to see you grab at your throat and cover your mouth when you eat and
we’re letting you try anything and everything that sounds good and might ease
the pain. It breaks my heart to see you
sick, but what a relief to finally have an idea about what is hurting you
versus the guessing game we play with your sister. I didn’t think it was possible for you to
have a sweeter temperament, but it seems you do, even when you feel your
worst.
You're developing quite the active imagination and are a very creative
little girl. Our evenings consist of
dance parties, sing alongs, run and chase games, and you often lead your Daddy
and me around your world of make believe.
One of your favorite games is going on a “bee or fly hunt” ... once we
find the bee or fly, we then spend at least half an hour pretending to touch it
and run away with a squeal of delight. You
are great at truly dramatic play and can squeal, show fear, find a sad face, and
even cry on demand. You love to lead a
parade around the house, start a choo-choo train on the floor, cook us dinner,
and generally play in your own world of imagination. You moved up to a new room at school a few
weeks ago (no transition issues!) and it’s amazing to see how much you pick up
from some of the “older” children in regard to dramatic and imaginary play. Most of your notes tell us how you and your
friends were playing with dolls, or singing songs in a group, or creating your
own fun game and it makes me very happy to hear and see how much you are
learning in the group setting. You take
a dance class at school one day a week and we love to see what you’ve learned
every Wednesday evening with our own special performance.
It’s been a pure delight to see Christmas through your eyes so far this
holiday season and you are loving every minute.
You helped to decorate the Christmas tree by handing us ornaments and
were enthralled with the other household decorations, especially the small tree
we placed in your room. The DVR has
quite a bit of space dedicated to Christmas specials from your favorite shows
(Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sofia the First) as well as classics your Dad and I
grew up enjoying, like Rudolf and Frosty.
Your Dad thrives on holiday tradition and it’s been pretty fun to watch
him watch you enjoy his traditions; it’s almost like having a third child in
the house. You alternate between calling
Santa by his formal name and Ho Ho, but we’re not sure of the rhyme or reason
and you are constantly correcting us. It didn’t surprise us in the least when
he came to your school last week and your teachers told us that you observed
from afar; you circled him, eventually giving him a high-five, but didn't want
anything to do with sitting on his lap.
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You are definitely my child and love repetition, order, and aren't a
fan of change. You have a fairly
detailed bedtime routine even after the teeth brushing, book reading and
prayers. First you give your Dad a hug
and a kiss after a back-and-forth about
who will carry you to your crib (it’s always me), then once we are there, we do
big hugs, little hugs, big kisses, little kisses and a high-five. Once you are under your covers, we account
for all of your stuffed animals and it’s finally time to get some
shut-eye. I can’t complain because you sleep
through the night, take great naps (asking for them fairly often), and even
know when you need to take a rest before a “case of the crankies” set in full
force. You are the number one enforcer
of doors being closed in the house, know exactly where the kitchen stool goes,
and are getting pretty good at cleaning up your toys and books.
Life seems pretty crazy these days and during the (many) times that I’m
flustered or overwhelmed it’s almost like you have a sixth sense that brings a
calm to a situation; a gesture as small as a hug and a smile turn my attitude
around completely. Your gift of love can’t
be taught or learned. As crazy as some
of the ideas are that come from your two-year old mind, as many messes as I
clean up daily, as many different dinners I make in an attempt to satisfy your
crazy food preferences, as much laundry as I do on a weekly basis ... I wouldn’t
trade any of it. Because one hug from
your with that million dollar smile makes it totally worthwhile. Thank you for keeping me grounded, forcing me
to take time out of my day to play, and for being one of the brightest stars
in my life.
Love,
Mom
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