Maddie: 53 Months

Dear Maddie,

What a fun month it's been! You have had so many adventures and conquered so many obstacles in just a matter of thirtysome days! Amazing!

You went boogie boarding for your very first time while in Kauai:

You had your last day of school in the 3s Yellow Room with Mrs. Murtaugh, Mrs. Silliman, Mrs. Kaucic and Mrs. Cambra (some of the finest preschool teachers we've had the pleasure of knowing!):

Along those lines, look how much your drawing has changed since the beginning of the school year:

Your drawings are full of life and detail! Eyes, ears, forehead, bodies, feet, fingers, clothes. Amazing! You absolutely love to draw and create and imagine. One day this month we played pirates. You and Sam decided to make a treasure chest out of an old diaper box and some brown paint. We created a treasure map and spent the afternoon hiding and finding our buried treasure, followed by the obligatory pirate jig:

And, you learned to swim! Yippee! Hip hip hooray! You are a bonafide fishie, water girl, mermaid, dolphin, shark (among other fishing creatures we've named). You absolutely love the water and are totally confident. It is such a joy! In just one week, I saw you go from barely kicking, to making your way across the pool, to jumping off the diving board, to going down the slide, to jumping into the deep end of the pool and swimming to the side. WOW!

Slide!

Dive!

Jump!

Swim!

It seems like every month you grow more and more mature, less and less a little girl and more into a person. You have definite opinions on just about everything. You are engaging and talkative, verbose and enthusiastic. You share your Daddy's passion and zest for life as well as your Mama's heart for people. The other night we had a friend over for dinner, a friend you've been praying for. When he shared that he has been learning about God, you turned to him and remarked, "well that's because I've been praying for you to know Jesus!"

You have some perfectionist tendencies. You are confident and assured in your abilities but on the rare occasion that something doesn't come easily or quickly to you, it becomes a major problem. You can be surprisingly patient with your little brother yet not with yourself. I am constantly reminding you of the grace God has shown us in Jesus as I point you toward his perfection and not your own. (It's not easy).

You are funny all the time. You love to crack us up with your homemade jokes and silly antics. One day when I was feeling sad you put a hula skirt on your head and followed me into my closet to dance, shake, and move your booty because you know how much I love to see you shimmy.

You are beyond kind, gentle and loving to your brother. Most of the time your sibling behavior is positively breathtaking. You two rarely fight because you are so generous and caring and cooperative with one another. Sam looks up to you, follows you around, and wants nothing more than to be playing with you.

I can't imagine this world without you. You are such a delight, such a unique and glorious treasure from God. We love you, punky boo!

Love,

Mama