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My Darling Sophie Lu,
It's been three whole years since the most magical, wonderful day of my life- the day you were finally placed in my arms. You had been living and growing in my heart for quite some time, but actually having you in my arms and knowing that it was forever felt so perfect and so very amazing. You were so calm and snuggly and loving with me from the very start. Just as I had already known your precious soul, you somehow knew mine and you knew I was your Mommy. Though I had loved you from afar, I had missed holding you and kissing you for your first 13 months; so I held you close, and I never let you go. I carried you everywhere and didn't let anyone else ever hold you (except Daddy after a few days & even then, not for very long). You slept right between us, and I remember Daddy and I looking at your sweet angel face, listening to you breathe, and watching you sleep. We still do that, you know... and we still smile at each other the same way we did those first few nights with you. We realize that you are such a miracle- our beautiful gift- our very first child together. You have brought so much love and laughter to our lives. We love you so much, sweet Sophie Lu; and we thank God and all of the angels in heaven for the blessing of your love.
You have grown and experienced so much in our third year together! And you've managed to make us laugh every step of the way. Here are just a few special memories that come to mind:
* You still wake me up with kisses, but this year you added your "sunshine face" (the biggest sweet morning smile ever). You greet each day with such wonder and excitement, and you love it when I say, "Good morning, Sunshine!" Sometimes I have to try to coax you to go back to sleep though- because it's too early. To that, you always reply, "But Mommy, listen... the birdies are awake, so it's time to wake up!"
* Sometimes after we wake up and shnug shnug (snuggle) in bed for a while, we play the "favorites game". You always start with, "Mommy, what was your favorite float in the New Year's Parade? And then you proceed to tell me your favorite, Daddy's favorite, and even Ollie's favorite. Then we move on to other kinds of favorites- I think you could play that game all day long!
* Every night, you are still the first to find the moon. You love looking at the moon, and Daddy and I tell you how we longingly looked at the moon each night while we waited for you. We always felt you were looking at the same moon, and now we are sure that you were...
* One night, none of us could find the moon. It was very dark and cloudy, but we did manage to find one star. You were so sad you couldn't say goodnight to the moon, so we showed you how to wish upon a star. This was your wish... "I wish my moon would come back." And the next night it did.
* You started pre-school, and you love it! You learned how to write your name many months ago, and now you can spell and read several words. You only go two mornings a week, but I miss you like crazy when we are apart. You tell me that you missed me each school day too. Picking you up is so exciting though- because when you first see me, your face lights up, you say, "Mommyyyyy!!!!!" and you run into my arms. That's the best feeling ever!
* You also started ballet! You love to dance, and we all love watching you! Your favorite part of ballet class is when you get to dance "Madame Butterfly". You flutter all around the room with a huge smile on your face (I always peek through the glass door to watch you)!
* While your sentence structure can still be a little baby-like (so cute), you started using very sophisticated words for a 3 year old, and your vocabulary seems to grow each day. When you finish eating a popsicle, you will say how "refreshing" it was. And when you are reading a book or working on an art project, you will insist that we all quiet down because you are busy "concentrating". When you get a new toy, you politely ask Daddy to "assemble" it for you, and when you hear thunder, you will tell us how the clouds are making a lot of "commotion". You love to use the word "distinguished", and you make me laugh when you use the phrase "I think not"! You are always trying to learn the meanings of new words- you recently asked me to explain the definitions for "sentimental" and "intuition". But you still have your own cute names for certain things, and I love that. Some of my favorites are "frigifrador" for refrigerator and "soaped" for soaked, "TD" for TV, and "DDD" for DVD. Oh, and I love how you call hula hoops "hooly hoops"!
* You've inspired me with your positive outlook on life. When presented with a broken popsicle, you said, "Look, Mama! Two popsicles!" And once you made a drawing of lots of tiny sad faces. When I asked you why you made all the faces frowning, you said, "It's upside-down day, Mommy... turn the paper around and you will see all the faces smiling at you!"
* You love putting coins in your piggy bank and your kitty bank. Recently, you were presented with a handful of coins and asked to choose some for your piggy bank. You kept choosing pennies. I tried to explain that the nickels and dimes were worth more, but you looked up at me and said, "Yes, Mommy, but pennies are lucky!"
* You have developed an appreciation for magic, and you love doing magic tricks. You use a magic wand sometimes, but you never say "Abra Cadabra". You say, "Moonakiss Joonakiss!"
* You have become very thoughtful- always asking, "How was your shower, Mama?", "How was your meeting, Daddy?", or "How was your nap, Ollie?" You are so sweet that way.
*You have also become a bit mischievous! I sometimes catch you sneaking out of the pantry with something hidden behind your back. When I catch you with the bag of marshmallows at breakfast time, you always explain, "But, Mommy, I had to follow my heart!" It's funny how your heart always leads you to marshmallows! lol
* When I talk to you about going to the dentist, you sweetly say, "Mommy, I like to go to the beauty salon better, okay?"
* You love to find dandelions to blow the seeds from and make wishes on. You almost always wish to make a chocolate cake or bake cookies with Mommy. Recently, though, you wished that you could go trick-or-treating with your baby sister. Then you told us how she would be too little to eat her candy, but that you would kindly eat it for her.
* You love to cook with Mommy or Daddy. You call yourself a "good cooker" or a "helper chef" or sometimes a "good cheffer". :) You are very good at helping Daddy make omelettes. You crack the eggs perfectly and you love to sample all the other ingredients. And when you bake goodies or make dinner with Mommy, you can always recall and recite every single ingredient.
* Somehow you learned the tune to "Here Comes the Bride". You take a pail of rocks and dirt and skip through the yard sprinkling it like a flower girl would. The interesting part is the words you sing... "Here comes the bride... big, fat, and wide. Here comes the groom, dirty as a broom!" Now how did you ever come up with that? Funny girl!
* Unlike most other children, when presented with choices A and B, you always choose your own C. You are quite the negotiator!
* You are also very good at sharing- especially with your brother Ollie. After you finish your popsicle, you always insist on sharing the rest of Ollie's popsicle with him!
* Daddy was in the yard hedging one day, and you asked him what he was doing. He told you he was "giving the bushes a trim", and you said, "Lucky bushes!" We curiously asked why you would say they were lucky, and you said, "Because now they are going to get a balloon!"
* You love holidays and are always asking me which holiday comes next and which one comes after that. You are already planning your Halloween costume and looking forward to baking heart-shaped pink frosted cookies for Valentine's day.
* You frequently tell me how you love me because I give you "soft love". When I ask you what that means, you say, "Soft love- not like hard love". When I ask what "hard love" is, you say "Hard like rocks, Mommy. Hard and soft are opposites- you know!"
* When I say, "Hi Baby-love", you say, "Hi Mama-love!" Then I say, "Hi Baby-Lu," and you say, "Hi Mama-Lu!" And we go on and on- both of us giggling the whole time.
I could go on and on with examples of how sweet, funny, and enchanting you are, Sophie Lu! I just never want to forget a single moment of our precious time together. You are growing up so quickly- too quickly. But just like you always remind me, you will always be Mommy's baby girl- my very first baby. And very soon, you will have a baby sister of your own. You can't wait to help me take care of her, and I know that she will look up to you and love you very much.
Happy three glorious years together, my beautiful beautiful child~
I love you always and forever...
Love, Mommy
xoxoxo
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