Hey Baby Girl – my brilliant, insightful, sensitive, passionate, athletic, FUN, snuggly girl –

I am so very sorry for this 3-month delay in writing to you. I have written posts to you in my head MANY times, saying things like, “Wow! You are growing up SO quickly – I need to tell you all of the amazing things you are doing so you can remember later.”

Last night we had the sweetest exchange before you fell asleep which began with my putting my nose about 3 inches from yours, looking right into those baby blues of yours and listing ALL the ways you bring such JOY to my day and my life. Some of this list included:
* How much I LOVE the stories you tell me (with a big smile, you interrupted my list to tell me of the BIG bug you saw today at school, it was brown, we decided to name it Harvey. You told me it flew away to go sleep with its family.)
* How you teach me how to appreciate rocks, sticks and bugs more and more every day.
* How you make me laugh out loud with so many things you do.
* How kind you are to your friends as well as random strangers.
* How much you enjoy people and animals… especially “tiny babies!”
* How much fun it is to sing with you everywhere we go – in the stroller to day and from daycare or VeggieTales in the car.
* How great you are with manners.
* How patient you are with my mistakes.
* How great your memory is.
* How proud I am of all the things you can do now that you are a big girl – dress yourself, go potty, help put things away, etc.

Here’s a fun story from about a week ago. I handed you your PJ’s and said, “Go upstairs, please, and get nakedy” (this is one of your favorite words these days… nakedy). You grab the nightgown and say firmly, “Mom, I can do it myself” and headed straight for the stairwell. I followed you up in case I could be helpful. You walked immediatley into the bathroom, pausing to look over your shoulder to remind me, “MOM! I SAID I can do it MYSELF” and you shut the bathroom door behind you.
*warm smile* With a small sigh I decide to sit on the side of my bed and await your return.
After a few minutes I called out, “Maya? You okay in there?”
You call back, “I am fine, Mom. Why don’t you choose a book for us to read.” (I totally cracked up – my 3-year old is multitasking and designating… awesome.) So I obediently choose a book. You come out of the bathroom, fully dressed in your PJ’s (I’m impressed). You look over at me and the book I chose and promptly and tearfully protested, “I DIDN’T WANT THAT ONE!!!” (Whew! You ARE still three. Thank goodness!! 🙂 ) I could NOT love you more Peanut Butter.

Let’s see – let me tell you a few more things that you are doing these days:
* You love to sing, and you love even more listening to me sing.
* You LOVE ice cream and now, gilato… Hehehe… I’m going to try to record you telling me that you want to go get gelato. So very sweet.
* You are coloring shapes now – lots of circles.
* You say “Mommi” about 72,985 times a day. And sometimes, “Mommi, look at me please.”
* You are acutely aware of the things going on around you – and you are very comfortable sharing your observations – I love it. (examples? the missing tooth in the smile of a man who might want to pave our driveway… just for example.)
* You are pretending to be other people and things. For example, last night you held your Mommy duck and Baby duck. Baby duck hit Mommy duck (both in your hands). You notify me, “Mommi, Baby duck just hit her Mommy. She needs to have a time out.” I said, “sounds right.” You said, “You do it Mommi.” So I put Baby duck in time out for 2 minutes reminding it that we do not hit people and that she needs to think about what she’s done. After 2 minutes, you decided Mommy duck should go speak with Baby duck to let her out of time out. This morning when I woke up and came in your bedroom, I heard you being both voices (Baby and Mommy Duck) – playing out their interactions.
* Last night you asked Grandma Judy (Jim’s Mom) if she would hook the hose up to your pool. She said, “We’ll have to ask your Mommy.” You promptly responded, “She’ll say ‘later.'” *Sigh* You’re probably right.
* You LOVE your friends from school: Chavon, April, Marlie, Elsa, Natalie, Olivia. And if I try to say “Levi? Rudy? Jaydon?” you respond, “No, Mommi, no boys.” When we were thinking about who we would share our toys with, you said, “No monsters, people, or boys.”
* You still LOOOOVE being outside! The other night we came home from swimming and you invited me to lay down in the front yard to watch the trees and the sky, so we did. My head by your feet, your head by mine. We laid there and watched the trees and the sky at dusk on a wonderful summer day. I just LOVE being with you!

Check out all the personality packed in the wonderful little person!

I am enjoying you so very much!! Thank you for being so wonderfully you!

Loving my Peanut Butter,
*Mommi