Friday, January 30, 2015

Letter to my Sweet Girl: Lily is THREE

Dear Lily,

You are three years old, THREE!, and you are learning all manner of new tricks. These past six months alone, you have learned how to make a harmonica produce different sounds, how to write several letters in your first name (and Daisy's first name), how to cut scissors to cut along a line or make a paper snowflake, how to ride a scooter, and you have mastered the lyrics to several new songs.
Your maternal grandparents took you and your sister to Disneyland for your birthdays. You met Minne Mouse, Cinderella and Elsa. You now believe that Disneyland is the source of all the happiness in the world, except for any of the fast rides. Like the Carousel. 

Lily, I love watching you grow, and I constantly wonder what you are learning and what ideas you most fervently will express. This being said, you are so fiercely independent. You are passionate. You and I butt heads - I think it's because we are so similar. We cry. We yell. And then, half a second later, we snuggle up to one another and we laugh and hug and read. Some mornings we are the best of friends. Other mornings, it feels as though we have drawn up troops to march into battle.

That being said, your imagination is really blossoming these days. You spend your days pretending to be Rainbow Brite (a recent obsession), or a baby or a pirate or a dog. Recently, your absolute favorite is to play Cinderella with your father. He plays the part of Prince Charming and I play the part of the Evil Stepmother, Violet plays the part the Fairy Godmother, while Daisy is the beautiful Queen who sits upon her throne and sings the ballroom music for you and your prince to waltz too.  You start by engaging in a dramatic curtsy to the ground, and conclude the entire game with your prince slipping on one of my high heels for the glass slipper test. I'm not entirely sure how I got cast into the part I did, but I love watching your eyes sparkle and your face light up when you dance with your prince.
Meeting the real-life Cinderella. You were almost trembling with excitement. 

Also, you have started a ballet class (in which you insist on wearing tap shoes) that you absolutely love. Oh, and you've started drawing rainbows all the time. That's pretty cool too.
While visitng your grandparents, we also went to the beach. You now believe your grandparents to live in a magical place of sand, princess castles and unlimited ice cream. 

You are three years old Lily, and having you at this age is amazing and wonderful. Three is clever and curious and creative. Three is loud and three is quiet. Three is painted fingernails and whizzing by on your scooter and trudging up to the house covered head to to in mud and sopping wet from running through the sprinklers.
Watching the parade with you in my arms. 
I love you more than all the stars in the sky and all the water in the oceans.

Love, Momma

Thursday, January 29, 2015

A Bumblebee is three

Tomorrow is Lily's birthday. In lieu of a babybook, I ask the following the following 20 questions to my birthday girl (starting with the third birthday). You can see Daisy's answers, here and here. So, this afternoon while coloring and painting, I asked the following questions: 
  1. What is your favorite color: green (Momma's note: this is a very new development. As of yesterday and each day before that, her favorite color was blue.)
  2. What is your favorite toy: princesses and her tea set (She has these 4" Disney princesses and a pretend tea set that she carts around everywhere.)  
  3. What is your favorite fruit: avocado, blueberries and bananas, but pancakes are my favorite. 
  4. What is your favorite movie: Cinderella 
  5. What is your favorite thing to wear: my Rainbow Brite costume (Momma's note: This was her homemade Halloween costume which we wear on a weekly wear. And Oh, My Heaven's if this is in the wash!) 
  6. What is your favorite animal: a moose or an elephant
  7. What is your favorite song: "The Apple Song" (Momma's note: This is a song that Daisy learned in preschool for "Apple Pie Night" and Lily has since picked it up with the hand motions. She will break into song at random times, but it is oh so cute.) and "Let It Go" (also another song she has learned all the words too. She has been known to steal my nursing cover to wear as a cape and sing the song while we are out and about.) 
  8. What is your favorite book: any of the Llama Llama by Anita Dewdney; anything with Minnie Mouse or anything with Rainbow Brite 
  9. Who is your best friend: Daisy and Karly 
  10. What is your favorite breakfast: daddy's pancakes 
  11. What is your favorite lunch: macoroni and cheese 
  12. What is your favorite dinner: pizza movie night (on Friday nights we make pizza and watch a movie together as a family. Basically, it's our favorite night of the week). 
  13. What is your favorite snack: a smoothie
  14. What is your favorite dessert: Gold Coins (Those chocolate gold coins from Trader Joe's. I got a bag in my stocking, and we each had a gold coin for dessert each night after Christmas. Lily has been begging Santa to bring me some more.) 
  15. What do you sleep with at night: my Minnie Mouse 
  16. What is your favorite thing to play outside: pirates and princesses with Daisy. 
  17. What do you want for your birthday dinner: cheese pizza and a Rainbow Brite cake. (We are having a mini-birthday party with Lily's two best friends where we are going to do an art project, eat homemade cheese pizza, have cake and watch Cinderella.) 
  18. What do you want to be when you grow-up: Rainbow Brite 
  19. Where is your favorite place to go: To the park with a playground. No, the beach! BOTH!!
  20. What is your favorite game: Pretend with sister or the stretchy game (Momma's note: A Disney Jr. version of Twister. We basically play it every day). 
Rainbow Brite herself hosting a tea party for her princesses. 

Monday, January 05, 2015

I vow

I vow to have a blast with you at home. I vow to show you girls and your father every day how much you mean to me. I vow to remember what's important and let slide what is not. I vow play a little more and work a little less. I vow to work on my patience. I vow to dance with you in the afternoons and snuggle with you in the morning. And I vow to let you twirl in your party dress for as long as you like.
Because I remember twirling in my own when I was little.