Dear Princess, Ten Things I Love About You

1. The way you crinkle your nose when you smile.
2. The way you beg for your shoes every single time we walk past the basket or see them at a store or at a museum (as below). Oh my girl, we're gonna have so much in common.
   
3. The way you think you are a big kid and try to weasel your way into your brother's games and onto any dangerous surface.
   
4. The way you always know when someone has a sweet treat and demand your rightful share.
5. The way you are so very happy when you find your baby doll or your blankie.
6. The way you're standing up ready for us to lift you would of your crib, but, oh no! wait! First you need to scoop up as much stuff out of your crib as possible- blankie, (non-special) blankets, baby Annie, and all the suckies (pacifiers) you can reach.
7. That you love to blow kisses. And raspberries.
8. That you are adorably cute in whatever wacky outfit your mama put on you. You are SO much fun to dress in the morning.

9. The way you wiggle your little finger on my touchscreen phone, like you know what you're doing.
10. The way you make me feel complete. I didn't realize I was missing something, until there was you.  I love you baby girl, don't grow up too fast.

(Ten things about your brothers, coming soon.)

To my children, one

Dear children-

I know that there are many parents who manage to write a love letter to you every month from your birth. I haven't been one of those, but I'd really like to be. The problem, is that there are now three of you, and I think I'd be writing letters once a week to do a monthly letter for each of you. Since your baby sister was born on the last day of the month, I've decided to write one letter each month to all three of you.  I'm really proud of the way you all get along and the way you boys have fallen in love with your sister (who still needs a blog name.) We've had our moments this month, there's definitely been some challenges, but every evening each of you is thrilled to see baby sister waiting in the car. I can't wait to see her smiling and laughing at the two of you.

Speaking of baby sister,  this last weeks you've started to smile in response to me. I wish I could say you're a quiet, predictable baby who sleeps all night, but that would be wishful thinking. Instead you are opinionated, loud, and impatient.  You still eat every 3.5 hours or so, but I can usually count on one longish nap in the morning. You have a couple cranky spells a day, of a couple hours each, where all you can do is snooze 10 minutes then cry for a few, snooze, cry, repeat. It's very frustrating for your parents, especially when the only thing that calms you is walking with you, and even MORE especially when it happens from 1 to 3 am!

Buggy boy, you've accepted your sister much more easily than your brother accepted you! We have to constantly guard against you squishing her with your enthusiasm, but I would never say you were intentionally hurtful towards her. You want to hug her all. the. time. You talk all the time and keep up with your brother in imagination and conversation. You know your Star Wars characters every bit as well as Sesame Street. You never hesitate to climb a slide or jump off something tall and you don't give a hoot what we tell you. In fact, we've discovered that once you've decided to do something there is no stopping you with bribes or threats or reason. You are determined to always have your way. You are 2 years 5 months old and the "terrible twos" could be named after you.  Despite this, you are a lot of fun to be around, your energy is insane and you keep us on our toes. Last night we discovered that you'll dance along with anyone dancing on tv- including the cast of Glee.

My Pirate, you're 5 years 5 months now. This was a big summer for you- you left the only daycare you can remember, you got a new sister, you started kindergarten. There are still more changes in store for you and I only hope you take them as well as you've handled the rest of the summer. You are a terrific big brother- most of the time.  Now that you spend more time with kids your own age you expect your brother to play by 5 year old rules, which doesn't happen. This  occasionally sends you into a fury of yelling and stomping, but we're working on that. This has also been a month of more rules and more expectations, many of which are hard for you to handle. I really think this is our fault more than yours, it's a lot to take in a short time. You're so happy and sweet and are free with your affection to all four of us, including your sister from day one. You love school and many nights come home to practice writing words and "reading" to your brother. You were so ready for what school is doing for you and I couldn't enjoy watching you enjoy school more.

There are days that are overwhelming with life with three kids. There are plenty of times that your dad and I lose our patience and our temper but we're learning just like you all are. We're so excited to see the direction that our family and our life has taken this month, and I can't wait til the end of next month to see what new things I'll have to record then. You kids are my heart and I hope to be a better parent to you every day than the day before.

Love,
Mommy

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