September 5, 2017
My dear Birthday Girl!
Happy birthday! Or as you have been saying all weekend,
“Happy to you!” What a day (weekend!) of joy, as we have been celebrating all
the wonderfulness that is you!!
The other night, your dad and I fell asleep talking about
all the things we love about you. Really, there are too many to name. But in
this letter, I will try to tell you a few of them.
We love that you love to read. We use books to bribe you
sometimes, or to pull you out of a tantrum, because you always, always want to
read. You crawl into a lap (even if Isaac is already occupying said lap) and
happily sit through an entire story. It’s really amazing, that you have that
kind of attention span. You will sit and listen to the whole thing, engaging in
it all along the way. You point out things you see in the pictures. You respond
when we ask you about the pictures. If we say, “Can you find a bird?” you will
look carefully until you find it, then point to it, saying, “This.” At night,
you insist on taking whatever bedtime story we read you with you into bed.
After we turn out the light, you sit in bed and re-read it, practicing. We
catch snippets, and sure enough you know some of the words, and mimic our
inflection! You’re really quite amazing, my dear.
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| Oo-oo-ah-ah's bedtime |
We love that you love to sing. You certainly have your
favorite songs – “E-I-O” (Old McDonald) and “Wow wow wow” (The Wheels on the
Bus) are regular requests. But you also learn new songs quickly. Row Row Row
Your Boat is a new favorite, Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider,
Open-Shut Them, and Happy Birthday are all songs you have sung on your own, and
there are many others you sing with me. You are very good at hand motions, and
eager to copy them. But love, nothing is sweeter than your little voice,
singing a song. We especially love it when you make up songs to sing to your
babies.
We love that you love your babies and your blankies (aka
“ladies”). Your current favorite lovies are Pink Lady (the largest and most
unwieldy blankie of them all, of course) and “Oo-oo-ah-ah,” your blue monkey.
You are a very good mommy to your babies, especially Oo-oo-ah-ah. You change
her diaper, or ask me to do it (and I have to tell you, your monkey poops a LOT
– seems like she is pooping all the time!), you strap her into the carseat and
the stroller, you set her in the high chair and put a bib on her, you give her
food to eat. The other day, you took her through the entire bedtime routine:
dressed her in your pajamas, fed her a bottle, read her a book, rocked and sang
to her, put her in your crib, patted her on the head, and closed the door as
you left. Adorable.
We love that you’re a ham. (Runs in the family, I guess!)
Whenever the camera comes out, you offer a cheesy smile and say,
“Cheeeeeeeese!” We did not teach you this, so we’re not sure where it came
from! You tell animated stories complete with hand motions and interesting
inflection, even though we can’t understand three quarters of your words. You
are a goofball, often trying to get us to laugh, but then cracking up yourself
at your own antics. It’s delightful.
We love that you are a good big sister. You watch out for
Isaac, making sure he has what he
needs. (Just this evening, you found all your
blankies, and pulled Isaac’s aside and brought it to him.) You try to feed him.
You play with him. He doesn’t even like to go to sleep unless you are in the
room with him, and when we leave you up there together, the two of you chat and
giggle for as much as an hour before you finally go to sleep. You are already thick
as thieves, you two. 
We love that you are trying so hard to talk. You totally get
language – you understand pretty much everything, and try so hard to articulate
what is in your head. You are getting closer and closer! You repeat everything,
always practicing. Every day, your words are clearer, and you string more of
them together. It is very exciting, and you look so satisfied when you
successfully communicate something to us.
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| Grace loves to drive. Seriously, always asking to. |
We love that you’re such a boss. You take care of business,
kid. You have clear ideas of how things should be – for example, when we go for
a walk, you dictate who will go in what stroller, who will walk, who will be
carried, etc. You take care of all the babies. With you in charge, we know
everything will be taken care of just as it should.
We love that you are so loving. For a kid who used to not
like cuddling at all, you have changed your tune. You love to sit in laps. You
willingly give hugs and kisses. You are quick with an “I love you,” or a hug
around the knees. And each and every time, it melts our hearts. You are such a
treasure, my sweet Grace. We love your smile, you goofiness, your tender care,
your excitement over every discovery (or even things you long ago discovered –
seeing them as if for the first time every day!), your determination, your
creativity, your industriousness, your heart. You are every bit grace, our
Grace Victoria!
Much
love,
Mommy
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