Maddie: 33 Months

My Sweet Madeleine,

How quickly the months fly by! Your 3rd birthday looms in the not-so-distant future. At least once a day you remark, "My birthday is in January, Mom? I'm going to be 3 years old." You've already started making birthday requests such as a rainbow cake--no rainbow sprinkles, lots of frosting, and ice cream, too. Good to know you're planning ahead.

You amaze and delight me each day with your insatiable energy and curiosity that just won't quit. As a result of your inquisitive nature, you have an incredible vocabulary and knack for remembering little details. One day as we took our friend home from school, the two of you looked at an illustrated Bible. He said, "Look, a parrot!," to which you remarked, "No, silly, that's a Scarlet Macaw, and that's a water dragon, and that other one, that's a giant anteater." Thank you to Diego and many animal books for those references.

You are a sheer delight. Everyone who meets you falls in love with your amiable character, your ability to remember their names with incredible accuracy (as well as other small details from conversations), and the way you just befriend each person you meet. At our neighborhood barbecues, old and young alike are mesmerized by your charm and soon following you around on little adventures. You are quite the assertive one, not afraid to approach groups of much older children and then lead them around as they follow your directions.

Your imagination has come alive in the past few months, and you spend the majority of each day engaged in pretend play with your dolls, food, hair bows, spoons, or whatever else happens to make its way into your hands. You are constantly naming said items with these fancy, flourishing names that get more complicated as the list grows: NeeNee, NooNoo, Adella, Alina, Aloolina, Nanoonina, etc, etc.

I love to peek in on you as you engage in your own play, as you are so creative and funny. I also love to hear you reenact moments from our day, showing mastery over situations in which you were frustrated, confused, sad or angry. I hear you telling your dolls to "go to timeout" or "hands are for being nice, not for hurting," or my personal favorite, "you're making ME frustrated!" Oops!

You love, love, LOVE your little brother. He is under your ever-watchful eye most of the day. You know what he is doing, with which of your toys he is playing, and what he wants and needs in any given moment. Sam scans the room for you whenever we return, and upon seeing your face, he lights up, smiles, coos and calls out to you. As he grows you are more and more excited about what he can do, and now that he can follow you, it is especially fun. The getting into your toys, drooling all over them, banging them on the floor--not so much fun.

One day you were in one of your moods and you said to him as he approached, "There is NO room on this rug for you, Sam." You pantomimed a large rectangle with your hands as you stated this emphatically, as if to erect an invisible fence. I told you, "There is ALWAYS room for Sam. He's your brother and you've always got to look out for him." Now I frequently hear you say to him, "There's always room for you, brother."

One day you woke up from your nap, dressed yourself in this pink party dress and heels, and came downstairs to show me your "beautiful outfit." I think my jaw might have dropped after taking this picture. You are effortlessly beautiful. Your golden curls, smiling brown eyes and soft skin made you appear as an angel in my camera viewer window. I thought to myself how much older you looked in that moment, as if I was peering into the adolescent future. Then I gulped.

The good news is, as we often tell you, your beauty resonates from the inside out. You are a good, sweet, kind girl. Your heart is loving and compassionate. You show incredible concern for your family, friends, and even strangers. You can light up a barbecue with your singing, dancing, and ongoing monologue.

We are so grateful to have you in our lives.

Love,

Mama