You are three and a half today. Three and a half. THREE AND A HALF!? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN SO QUICKLY. Because three years ago you looked like this ↴.
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| "Mom that is not me that is ELLE." |
And now you look like this↴. Pure joy.
My Grace, she is the sweetest. Heart of freaking gold. Sure, she still has regular kid impulses, like playing hard to get with her auntie Anna and making menacing faces at her baby sister, but short of that...solid gold, baby. So gold that when she does veer off course from her delightful, well-behaved self, the shame of misbehaving will cause her to profusely apologize for daaaays, sometimes months afterward. It's actually given me pause as to how I should react to these little infractions, because if I make it too personal, ask her to be more empathetic, it will be part of our narrative for a verrrry long time. I love her empathy, I love her big heart, I pray she has a little fortitude and determination tucked away in there, too. Or that she can borrow some from her little sister. 😳 Speaking of her little sister, their relationship is blossoming and it is so fun to watch. It still blows me away that their relationship will one day be independent of me, that they are each other's sister. Like me and my sisters, who laugh and text and commiserate daily. I'm so glad and lucky to be raising sisters!
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| This photo isn't the best quality but says basically everything you need to know about my girls. |
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I wrote this following story just after she turned three but never did anything with it, but it's cute and I love the memory so I'm plastering it here:
Today I had a moment with Grace that so blew me away that I need to write about it. We were at the library and a little girl came up to her and asked her to play, and Grace looked at me and said, I want to get princess books mom. (Code for, I need a little more time to determine if I want to play with this girl.) So I helped her tell the little girl that she was going to look for some books but maybe in a little bit she would play? But you know who did want to play? Baby sister. So baby sister made a bee line for this new little friend, I followed and, inevitably, I started playing with this little girl, because I am an expert player. Hide yo kids, I ain't kidding, I will play the heck out of all the things. Grace finished up with her books and joined us at the K'nex table, and before long, thanks to our new little friend's extroversion, Grace was laughing and engaging and playing like they were best friends. It was adorable. I thought, man she's come so far from that little baby who would never leave my side. I am so proud of her. The little girl went on to tell us it was her fourth birthday, she had a little sister too, who she thought was maybe one or two years old (four days, actually) and that her mom got stung by a jellyfish, yesterday (that's an interesting way to describe the post-birth experience.) Grace went on to say, AND I QUOTE, "I went to San Diego last year and I went to the beach but I couldn't go into the water because of the jelly fish, I didn't want to get stung. "
Accurate, a complete sentence, delivered with eye contact and completely appropriate in context. They require a bit of coaxing, but her social skills are on point. As are her ice cream-eating skills.
Then few months ago, at dinner Grace asked Eric, unprompted, "What do you do for work today, Daddy?" Eric went on to explain he had a new client come in to his office today. Grace asked, "Was it a boy or a girl?" Eric: "A girl." Grace: "Oh, did you help her, Daddy?"
OK WUT I cannot get over her ability to empathize and understand situations and relationships that are outside her own experience. I mean, this kind of interpersonal exchange is obvious to adults, but to see it happen for the first time makes me realize how very much she has learned about communication, our culture, about relationships... it suddenly seems quite sophisticated, and she's doing it with such ease. Sheesh. I am so lucky to know her. I'm so lucky she lives in my house. I'm so lucky she likes me so much, and that she loves DANCING as much as me. I hope I don't sound braggy, that's not my intention. I'm just noticing, appreciative of my daughter and of this beautiful life we are creating together.
Last week she was with Mimi and, while taking a lengthy bathroom break, she told Mimi her tummy hurt because "Mommy put too much toothpaste on my toothbrush this morning." 😳 I didn't, I swear.
A few days ago we were playing what felt like a marathon Trolls saga, and I was getting a little too relaxed for Grace's comfort, leaning on one arm, playing half-heartedly with a troll in my other hand. She got in right in my face and said, "You have two hands. USE THEM."
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| She will go on to describe this moment in detail, to all the people she loves, as meeting the real Cinderella, from the movie. I mean, I will melt over this forever. 📸 Eric, you're amazing. |
Things that Grace is particularly fond of right now, so I don't forget:
Disney Princesses
My Little Pony
Barbies
Snack packs with healthy things. And bad things, mom? 🍬
Trolls
Playing pretend everything
Dancing
Dresses
Music class
Going to the movies, holding hands with Eden at the movie.
YouTube
The park
San Diego
The BEACH
Another six months will tick by, faster than the last six because we're heading into summer and I'll be back here to share more wonderful photos and sweet memories of our recently turned four year old. I can't get over what life is slowly revealing itself to be, and how different it is from what I thought, even a few short years ago. Three and a half, to be specific.
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