Happy 4th birthday, Princess Marella!
You have grown and changed a LOT in the last year. You are an incredibly articulate speaker – my favorite is when you start your sentences with, “Well, actually …” You say most words well, but you still call sausage “saufage,” and you call a blanket a “blanklet.”
You now sleep in a toddler bed (with the closet light on), and most days you do MUCH better when Mama leaves you (which sometimes makes me sad).
You had your first big birthday party this year! You kept saying you wanted a paint party – even when I suggested other things, you insisted on a paint party. Thankfully, Mama’s friend, Jessi, hosts these things (she has both skill sets and patience that your Mama certainly does not have), so we got to invite some of your friends to paint a picture, play with all of Miss Jessi’s fun art supplies, and eat pink cake with purple icing that you requested.
Perhaps our proudest moment is that this year you FINALLY decided to go potty! Just when Daddy and I were pretty convinced you would be going to college in pull-ups, you finally decided to master the skill on your own.
You started preschool this year at Lancaster Christian Academy, where your big brother, Reagan, goes. While it certainly has been a bit of a roller coaster for Daddy and I, you have handled it like a champ, and even get upset when it’s time for you to go home.
Speaking of Reagan, you still ADORE your big brother. So much. Most times, Reagan is happy to play with you, but sometimes he wants to be by himself, which you don’t always understand. Still, Daddy and I are very proud of how well both of you get along. When you are sad or hurt, you still usually want Reagan first.
You broke my heart a couple weeks ago, when you innocently asked why I didn’t have any baby pictures of you, since there are several baby pictures of Reagan in the house. I pointed to the one I have in our bathroom, and told you we would get more pictures of you. That satisfied you for the moment. We have never tried to hide the fact that you are adopted, but that question reminded me that we need to start having more of those discussions.
You LOVE to pray, and I love listening to you pray. You will often say things like, “Mama, my foot hurts. Will you pray for it?” But when you pray for something – which you do often – you’ll say, “Dear Jesus, thank You that You will make my foot all better. Amen.” I want your faith.
Another big milestone this year is that you learned to swim! We were at a hotel in Pennsylvania, in a pool with you in your floatie, and Daddy and I standing a few feet apart, when we spontaneously decided to take your floatie off and see what happened. You started swimming like you had been doing it all your life. You love the water, and it makes Daddy and I feel so much better about being in the water with you, knowing you can swim. Still, we never, ever take our eyes off you, which is just the way you like it, because about every five seconds, you say, “Mama, look at me! Mama, look!”
Since last year, we’ve done two trips to Pennsylvania, and one trip to Florida. You also had almost a week without Daddy and I for the first time, when we went on a cruise earlier this year. You handled it really well, and only cried one time – and that was when you were in a store with Mr. Steve and Miss Joyce and said you missed … Reagan.
You are a GREAT eater, and will eat almost everything (although sometimes it takes you a REALLY REALLY long time to finish your dinner). You love pasta, toast, cupcakes, pickles, sour cream, cereal, pancakes that Daddy sometimes makes on Saturdays, donuts that you get to eat on Sundays, and most fruit. Your favorite colors are purple and pink.
Ever since you became ours, I’ve had you say, “I am smart. I am beautiful. God made me perfect.” But now, sometimes you say, “God made me coo-coo crazy,” or, “God made me pinkstastic!” (from the TV show Daddy sometimes lets you watch while I’m at work, Pinkalicious).
We have been to Shriner’s Hospital two times in the last year, having your left foot evaluated to decide what we should do about it. Right now, the bones between your toes and your feet don’t connect, meaning that it would be hard to just straighten your foot. At some point, probably soon, we will have to decide if we should remove your toes. Daddy is handling that well. I can’t talk (or type) about it without crying. I tell myself they are JUST toes (and you only have four of them on that foot anyway), but it’s hard to make these big decisions for you. And, it is those beautiful toes that brought us to you. Those toes are my favorite.
You never, ever, ever, EVER stop moving. Ever. Daddy and I often comment that you are always either jumping or dancing or moving back and forth. The only time you are still is when you’re asleep – and after spending time in a hotel bed with you, I know firsthand that even then, you aren’t really still. One morning I woke up and your foot was on my forehead!
You are FIERCELY independent, and can go from happy to sad, or angry, in a split second. You are still learning that things don’t always have to go your way. Already we are having to tell you that you aren’t allowed to slam doors when you’re angry. Daddy and I often ask what we’re going to do when you’re a teenager.
But after you are angry, you cry because you are sad, and you will reach for me, hold my ear (yes, two years later you are still holding my ear), and say, “Mama, do you still love me?”
Yes. Always. I will love you for always.
I tell myself it is your incredibly strong will that got you so far in life. But know this – even in your most challenging moments, when you are crying and yelling and slamming doors and pouting – there is never, ever, ever a moment that I’m not grateful that you are my daughter. Every second of every day I am thankful – so thankful – that you are mine.
Happy birthday to my favorite daughter. The world is infinitely better because you are in it.
