I should start by telling you that I have no words to express how incredibly proud I am of you and how amazed I am by you on a daily basis. Watching you grow is watching a miracle in progress, and it humbles me.
If only I could say that you are your best, most sweet self at all times. Growing from two to three is a challenge; you have learned with so much more skill how to tell me what you want, you have learned to do so many things on your own, and you have pushed every boundary presented to you. You’re a nice, normal toddler. You drive me totally crazy. I couldn’t possibly love you more.
I have been so impressed in watching you grow through your first preschool experience. I can see you gaining more confidence in large groups of kids. I was so thrilled to see you at the children’s museum or the aquarium, not intimidated by the crowds, just plowing ahead to what you wanted to see or do. My shy girl has a bit more to learn in this arena, but you have already begun to understand that you have every right to be there, right in the middle of things. I love it when you come home with a song or a story that I didn’t teach you. I love to see you light up when you talk about your projects. And, let’s be honest, I love it when you run into my arms at the end of the day. I’m so glad that I’m still one of your favorite people. You’ll always be one of mine.
This next year is going to be a challenging one for you. We’re getting ready to move halfway across the country. We won’t get to see your wonderful grandparents and extended family with quite the same frequency. You’ll start a new school. Make new friends. Finally face forward in your car seat. There will be good times and bad times. We will frustrate each other. But I know that you will continue to grow into the smart, funny, sweet, emphatic girl and woman that you’re meant to be. Thank you for being my daughter. Thank you for teaching me to take a deep breath and count to 10 instead of yelling over spilled pee. Thank you for giving me the chance to show you how to pick ripe strawberries from our plants.
Thank you for helping me water those same strawberries (and your feet) with your tiny blue watering can. Thank you for sharing your imagination with me. The world you see is often much more interesting than my adult world. Thank you for sweet hugs and kisses and saying, “I love you.”
All my love always,
Mom
So sweet. My daughter is turning three at the end of June and I won't lie it scares me a bit to see all my kids become a little more independent. But I so do love watching them grow and learn and use their imaginations
ReplyDeleteThere are so many times I wish I could have a redo of those toddler years. Both of my boys were pretty neat kids, but sometimes when you are treading water in the middle of it all you miss the wonder of them.
ReplyDeleteLove it. I have a son who is in his last three days of being three-years-old, and I can tell you that, from my perspective, the age of three is a total BLAST! I hope you love the next year with your daughter as much as I did with my son.
ReplyDeleteAwww so sweet! Happy Birthday to your daughter!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet. And good luck on your upcoming move. Ellen
ReplyDeleteI love the image at the end. Such huge life changes mentioned - and then such a seemingly mundane, but still beautiful, task.
ReplyDeletehappy birthday to your sweet girl! Good luck with your big move. We FINALLY made our cross country move. The younger they are the easier it is.
ReplyDeleteVery sweet.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! I love writing letters like these to my kids. I hope one day they look back and read them and know how very much I love them.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. Writing something like this is as much for me as it is for her. It's so hard to remember even now some of the little triumphs from when she was a baby. It's nice to have a snapshot of what moving from 2 to 3 was like.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet letter to your daughter. 3 is such an incredibly fun age. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love three! I miss my kids at this age.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet letter. I just blogged my own letter to my daughter on her fourth birthday on Monday. If this is your first, you are in for a treat. Three is really hard, but it is so amazing to watch them lose that babyness that they still have and turn into little kids.
ReplyDeleteAnd my heart hurt a little when you talked about her running into your arms. My daughter is starting preschool in September, and I am having a rough time with it, but then I imagined her running to me at the end of the day, and I realized that good things will come.
It is a bit hard to watch them go off. Turned out that the time apart was actually great for both of us. I don't know about you, but a couple of hours kid free leaves me a much more patient Mom the rest of the time.
DeleteGood luck in the Fall!
She sounds like a wonderful little girl. Happy Birthday.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet letter. My little boy is turning 3 in December, and I can't wait to see the strides he makes in the next 7 months!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet letter. Love it.
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