A Birthday Letter

Dear Ballerina Girl,

Happy Fourth Birthday to you, sweet girl! We have been waiting for this big day for quite a while. Being a three year old was a great deal of hard work for you and being the parents of a three year old was equally hard for your Daddy and I. You spent the year busy as a bee, wanting to take the whole world in. Your days, no matter how full, were never quite full enough for you. You greeted each day asking, "What are we doing today and who are we going to see?" You are a sensitive little girl that feels deeply. It is not an easy job managing such intense emotions. It's not an easy job teaching how to manage it either, especially when one is still learning (ahem). You prefer to do mostly everything yourself, except of course when you want me to do it for you. I never seem to get it right, or maybe it is set up so that I am not supposed to :) You have a very special relationship with your Daddy and he seemed to understand you much better than I did this past year. Thank goodness for him.

Being three, also marked some pretty big moments, like going to work with Daddy, sleeping over Grandma and Papa's and Fran and Grace's for the first time, breaking your arm (you were such a brave girl), extended play dates with close friends, your first recital, attending your first play (Frog and Toad), seeing your first movie (Winnie the Pooh), being a very attentive big sister to Little Man, and swimming under water. You have also loved to sing and dance in your own way, putting together elaborate costumes of whatever materials you can find around the house. Sitting down to paint or create is the only way you will take some time to be still. It seems to give you quiet and relaxation and the opportunity to invest yourself into a project.

All of us, especially you, are so glad to be in four year old land now. Despite the rough patches of being three, at the end of the day, you are truly a remarkable gift to your family and we are grateful that God sent you to us. When I told you this as a three year old, you would ask me if God drove to this family in a car. Now when I tell you this as a four year old, you give me a sincere smile and put your cheek against mine.

Happy Birthday to you, sweet girl.