May 22, 2005
Dear Grace,
Happy 3rd Birthday!
Your own words say it best, “I’m a big girl now.” I sometimes think you’re 3 going on 30. This year you’ve demonstrated determination and independence.
Milestone #1: language development. you went from speaking words to talking in full sentences, even paragraphs at times. Having a highly verbal older brother helps. Sometime between 2 and 2 ½, your language skills blossomed. You tell me how you feel or you describe an object you’ve noticed. You and Harry seem to compete for “time to express yourself”. I hope you’ll always share your thoughts and feelings with me. It helps us get to know and understand each other! However, you struggle with a few words…napkin is “hapkin” and bagel is “wagel”. In time, you’ll pronounce them correctly.
Milestone #2: your gross and fine motor skills. I started noticing your coordination during Black Diamond Gymnastics’ open gym. You love the trampoline and rings. You also enjoy running and tumbling. I plan to enroll you in a few gymnastics’ day camps this summer. I wonder if I’ll be writing about gymnastics again next year?
Milestone #3: a better understanding of the world around you. You’ve embraced the concept of holidays (especially Christmas), events (such as birthdays), people (including extended family members you infrequently see) and characters (Dora, Peter Pan, and Winnie-the-Pooh). “Dora the Explorer” was the theme for your 3rd birthday party. One of my favorite memories from this year was of the day you and I were walking down the hall in Harry’s school just as many ESL students were lining up outside their classroom door talking excitedly to each other in Spanish. You intently watched (and evidently listened) them as we walked by because at one point, you stopped, waved your hands to the children and said, “¡Hola!” The children were too caught up in their own conversations to notice your hello but you understood they were speaking Spanish and you needed to speak Spanish too for them to understand you.
Another example of understanding your world around you occurred the day you and Harry were playing outside with our neighbor, Paul. I called to Harry first, asking him to come inside and start his homework. I then asked you to come inside too. Your response, “I do not have homework yet so I can stay outside.” I was blown away by your incredibly logical answer!
Milestone #4: continuing Miss Maggie’s Kindermusik class. Over the course of this year, you have started learning to use pitch in your singing voice and rhythm. I have enrolled us in a camp this summer and plan to continue this fall too. I am so excited to see where your strong interests lie!
Milestone #5: potty trained before age 2 ½. We set the small potty in your bathroom before you even turned two. You started using it early (one of many examples where you try to mimic your brother’s behavior), but in October 2004, you and I spent a significant amount of time at home for nearly two weeks, and voila! You were extremely proud of yourself!
More frequent episodes of acute reactive airways unfortunately occurred this year. As I write this letter, you’re suffering from your third cold in four months. We almost immediately resort to a steroid breathing treatment to control your cough. How I hate to administer these treatments. Your pediatrician tells me that inhaled steroids have the least impact on your system versus other methods of administration. I’ll try to keep up on the latest research so as never to compromise your long-term health.
Since this was the first year you fully grasped the concept of Santa Claus, you would often say, “Ho, Ho, Ho what do you want for Christmas?” My answer continues to be the same, “for you and Harry to be healthy, happy, and safe.”
You and Harry continue to be a typical brother/sister pair. You either play beautifully together or are at each other’s throat. Harry sets many wonderful examples for you and he loves you very much. You have a nice relationship with Daddy too.
Much of my attention this year has been devoted to one of my all-time loves: horses. I try not to let my passion for horses interfere too much with our time together, but I’m certain it does. I hope someday you will understand. I look forward to sharing my short story, Sidepass, with you. My latest horse-related project involves researching legislation potentially allowing the sale of wild horses for slaughter. You can imagine how fired-up I am about this issue. Therefore, I continue to write letters to state congressmen and senators. In the years to come, it will be interesting to see the final measures enacted by our government.
As usual, my birthday letter is a bit of a rambling one. Choosing which moments and insights to chronicle each year is a challenge but one constant remains, I love you deeply and I’m so glad you’re here!
Always,
Mom
