A letter to my {oldest} daughter: very merry unbirthday

Dear Gianna:

Today is your half birthday. I woke up this morning and thought to myself, there is NO WAY my baby girl is three and a HALF years old. No way.

But, time has a way of moving pretty fast these days and yes, you are in fact three and a HALF years old. And what an amazing girl you have become. You look older, your “baby” voice is all but gone, you make jokes, you understand and comprehend more than we realize. You are quite the young lady.

You LOVE preschool, I mean you really really love it and in just the few weeks you have been going you have learned and grown so much I can hardly believe it.  You tell us about your day, your friends, the things you do. Your independence is shining my sweet girl – and I hope it shines through brighter and brighter with every passing unbirthday.

We have a hard time most mornings getting you up and dressed and out the door, we are not so much a family of morning people. We’re figuring it out, some days are better than others, but it’s ok. You are a very strong-willed girl when it comes to getting dressed – you like what you like and that’s the end of that. Maybe in between being a princess, a dancer, a cowgirl and a singer you will be a fashion designer when you grow up!

It has been a pretty busy half a year for you – you learned you were going to become a big sister, went to Disney world, started preschool, went camping, spent a week at the fair, swam a lot and got the best Coppertone tan (I’m sure you will probably never know what that means!), had your first sleepover with a friend, became a big cousin, were a flower girl in your aunt’s wedding and that’s just the big stuff!

Some of your favorite things right now is watching movies on netflix, playing on the ipad, playing cowgirl and princess (sometimes at the same time!), going outside, spending time at Grandma and Papa’s house and with your aunts, dance class and school.  You still adore your lovie and like to keep lots of “pets” in bed with you at night.

We have a pretty busy next half of the year coming up too – but despite all of the really big things going on (like your baby sister’s arrival!) around you – I hope you feel how much I love you. How special you are to me, how special you will ALWAYS be to me. I hope you always remember how proud I am of you and how wonderful I think you are. Remember that you make me smile and laugh like no body else can and that I cherish every conversation we have (and we have a LOT!) – if I could tape record all of them so I could play them over and over again, I would.  You are so insightful, observant, honest and loving – you’re my little helper and my littlest best friend.

You ask me a lot lately if I will still be able to hold you when baby sister comes out, and the answer, like I always tell you, is yes. I will always be able to hold you, my sweet girl – because you hold the special place of my first born, my oldest daughter, and you will always be my baby – no one will take your place.  Mommy’s have this special way of just making room for all of their babies, but making sure they all have their special spot. So know that your special spot will always be YOURS.

I love you more and more every day -

Mommy