Rosemary, sweet baby girl, you are three!I remember when you were born, I couldn’t imagine you being a little girl. I wondered what you would look like and who you would be. This year, your personality has really started to shine through. You are a talking machine, so we are really starting to understand what you’re thinking, too. But more than anything, you are so loving. Here are some highlights from the year.
I can’t talk about the year without first mentioning your first full year as a big sister. I couldn’t be more proud of how sweet you are to your baby brother. When you talk to him, you use your “Baby Reid voice,” as we call it. I can’t quite describe it, but it’s like if a grandma was trying to teach something to a young child. Kind of talking down to him, but in a sweet way. You are always trying to help him (sometimes to his detriment) and to hold him or his hand. Every night, you give him a hug and the gentlest little kiss before bed. One thing I am especially proud of is how you help us watch out for Reid’s allergies. Even when you make pretend food, you’ll say sweet little things like “Here’s a cookie! Reid isn’t allergic – it has no milk.” How sweet is that?
You two, of course, have your differences. You don’t like to share your toys with him. If he even starts to crawl towards something you’re playing with (even if it’s his), you often erupt. Sharing has been a big lesson for you this year, but you’re making progress. You also have had to learn to share your mama. You’ll often ask dad to hold Reid so you can get some mama snuggles. I love how having a sibling has made you a little cuddlier, even if a side effect of that is that you want me to carry you everywhere. As a baby, you were little miss independent who never wanted to be restrained, but now I often find myself carrying a baby and a toddler in both arms!
Your vocabulary has exploded this year. We can have full conversations with you, and you tell us stories about things that are going on at school or with the family. You really listen and observe everything around you. When you started school last September, your teachers told me that you were very quiet. I was shocked! They said that you didn’t miss anything, but you were just quietly observing everything. After about a month of school, they told me that you had finally opened up. Now they give me little snippets of some of the sweet things you do and say. Recently, I was told that you love to go around saying “Ice cream! Ice cream!”, which I, of course, already knew because you did that at home too, ha! You love to pretend like you’re selling ice cream, so we got you a cute little ice cream cart to celebrate you quitting your paci back in February (we were SO so proud of you!). The last thing your teachers told me was that you really love circle time and know all the words to everything at circle time. I laughed because you had been making us all do circle time every night before bed. Baby Reid (as we all ALWAYS call him) is always the flag helper, mommy always leads singing “This is the Day” and daddy is always the book helper. We all love watching you learn and reenact what you observe.
Some of your favorite things this year have been:
- Trains & Thomas the Train….until you realized how loud trains are, and then they were pretty much dead to you
- Daniel Tiger
- Playgrounds
- Hot air balloons (hence, the birthday party theme)
- Taking care of your baby dolls, Baby Jasmine and Baby Rapunzel (who you named, but who is also 100% bald)
- Playing kitchen
- Halloween (specifically, candy) and Christmas
- Singing your ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, You are my Sunshine, Jesus Loves Me, and Wheels on the Bus
- The movies Coco and Rapunzel
- Circle Time
- The pool (specifically, the baby pool)
- Fernbank and dinosaurs
- Play dough with cookie cutters, which you call “cookie daughters”
- Balconies, which you call “ballerina houses”
You don’t love getting in your car seat, especially to run errands, but you do love to travel. We flew to Phoenix in the fall, and you still ask to go back to the airport. We went to the lake over spring break and you had a blast playing in the sand and running around with your cousins.
You’ve simultaneously become more and less brave. You’ve had spurts where you’ve been scared of the dark, going so far as sleeping with the overhead light and lamp on. You’re scared of almost all bugs, even the tiniest gnats. You’re still scared of vacuums and tractors. Fortunately, though, you have gotten so brave about the doctor. It’s pretty clear that you’re still scared, but you actively try to be brave, and I’m really proud of you trying so hard to conquer your fears. You also recently went to the dentist with me, and you let them count your teeth at the end. Two year old Rosemary would have never let that happen. You’re becoming such a strong little girl.
Rosemary, I could go on for a long time talking about what a wonderful little girl you are. Over the past few weeks, you’ve been working really hard to speak very politely to us, and it’s made me realize how much you’re growing up. You’re becoming a fun little friend who likes to tag along in activities we can both enjoy. Just a couple days ago, we planted a garden together! I can’t wait to get to know you more and more. To see how smart and sweet and strong you become. We all love you so much. You’re the best daughter and sister we could have ever asked for. You are a blessing in our lives, and I’ll never stop thanking God for giving you to our family!
