March 21, 2014
Dear Sarah,
Today you are three. Please, please stop growing up
so fast! Almost every day we marvel at
how much bigger you have gotten. She looks taller. Look at how
big she is. I can't believe she can do that. Those are the things Daddy and I say -- over and over again.
Because this year you have
grown up SO MUCH. You moved into your big girl room and sleep in an
actual twin bed. Not a toddler bed - a real, grown-up sized bed!
You can pedal a trike and climb the ladders at the playground. You
hurdle fearlessly down the tall, tall slide. You hold actual
conversations with kids and grown-ups alike, and you ask many, many questions
(most of which start with "why" or "how" - which you use
interchangeably) about the world around you.
You can count to ten, but it
gets a little fuzzy from there on out (nine, ten, fourteen, eleventeen...). You
know your ABCs and can tell us the sounds that most letters make. You
know that Sarah starts with "s" and will yell out, "That's for
ME!" any time we see a letter S. You can recognize the word
"zoo" on signs and in books. You know that Tom starts with T
and that Grammie starts with G, but you're not too sure what my name starts
with. You also think that "h is for PaPa" because he drives a
Honda with a big H on the front.
You are really into dress-up
right now and will wear your princess dresses whenever possible. You can
walk in those little plastic high heeled shoes like a champ. You also
enjoy putting on every piece of play jewelry we own...all at the same time.
You love to sing and still
request songs from me at bedtime. One of your favorite songs to sing at
the moment is "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," but you sing it all wrong.
It's adorable. You say, "Baa, baa, black sheep, hab you any
woor? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags fur. One for my master, one for the
dane, one for the widder boy who libs down the rain..." Please don't
ever learn the real words.
Your favorite TV shows are
Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol. You are, in fact, obsessed with Paw Patrol. I
think we've seen every episode at least 100 times, and I really think you have
them all memorized. You insist on wearing the shirt Santa brought you
with Chase (who you have decided is your favorite) on the front every night as
pajamas, and you will often refuse to take it off during the day. You
tell me, "I love Chase! He's my best guy!" More than once, we
have had to send it to daycare in your backpack just to get you into a clean
shirt for the day. You have also assigned dogs from Paw Patrol to each of
your family members (Daddy likes green, I like pink, Grammie likes orange, and
PaPa likes yellow), and you make us sing "Go, go, go!" as they get
ready to solve problems around Adventure Bay. You have two bath toys - a
red firetruck and an orange ambulance - that you have decided are Marshall and
Zuma, and you insist on sleeping with them at night. It's not uncommon
for me to watch on the monitor as you zoom them around the bed and sing the Paw
Patrol theme song out loud for them before you eventually fall asleep.
And speaking of bedtime, you
want me to tell you a "Princess Sarah" story almost every night. Here
is an example of a Princess Sarah story in case you ever outgrow this habit:
Once upon a time, there was a princess named Sarah, who lived in a big
castle on a hill with King Daddy, Queen Mommy, Princess Pickle, and Princess
Ellie. Once day, Princess Sarah and Princess Ellie decided to take a walk
in the woods. So they put on their Dora shoes (or whichever
shoes you wore that day) and walked down the path. Suddenly, they heard a loud
roar! Princess Ellie was very scared, but Princess Sarah was very brave,
so they kept walking down the path. All of a sudden, they heard another
giant ROAR! Princess Sarah and Princess Ellie were both so scared that
they hid behind a tree. (I hide my face behind my hands at this part, and you
usually hide under your blankets and giggle like mad.) Princess
Sarah peeked out from behind the tree (I move my hands
to the side and you come out from under your blanket), and saw a giant,
green dragon (or whatever color you requested that night)!
ROAR!!!! Princess Ellie was very, very scared, but Princess Sarah
was very brave and walked right up to the dragon and said, "Dragon, I
can't understand you when you talk in that voice. Please use your words
and tell me what's wrong." (I started telling you these stories in the hopes that you
would quit "roaring" and actually tell us why you were throwing a
fit. They haven't helped with that at all, but you really do like hearing
them!) "Roar. I'm sorry, Princess Sarah. I just
get so grouchy when I'm feeling hungry!" said the dragon.
"Silly dragon," said Princess Sarah. "Why don't you just ask for
a snack? I have some ____ (insert your current favorite snack here) in my pocket
that I would be happy to share with you." So Princess Sarah shared
her snack with the dragon, and then Princess Sarah, Princess Ellie, and the
green dragon played together until the sun went down. Then the princesses
went back to the castle where King Daddy, Queen Mommy, and Princess Pickle were
waiting to share a delicious bowl of ice cream with the princesses. The
End.
And
then you go to sleep in a giant pile of stuffed elephants. Because one
Ellie wasn't enough. You have to sleep with Mommy Ellie, Christmas Ellie,
Softie Ellie, and Bumpy Ellie (who is the preferred Ellie, by the way). There is a fourth, unnamed Ellie, as well. She was originally purchased as a "backup" for when Bumpy was in the wash. Then she was lost for several months, but rediscovered inside the pink plastic car we used to push you in for walks when you were smaller. She has been reintroduced to the herd and is a clear second favorite, but you have still not named her for some reason...
In addition to Ellie, you love your
little character toys. You have three dollhouses, and any and all of your
toys live in them. You also love to drive your toys around in your play
minivan and play school bus, and your toys all talk to each other and have very
boring, everyday needs like the rest of us (they seem to need to go to the
bathroom a lot)!
You are really into making
"treats" for your Daddy and me. You mix and scoop pretend food
onto your little plastic plates and then deliver them to us, saying, "Here
you go, customer!" You also use the word "sir" a lot, but
rarely in the correct context (for example, you often tell me, "Thank you,
sir!" when you hand me my plate). Sometimes you'll pretend that we
are babies and try to feed us your pretend food. You even make us turn our
heads away from the spoon so you can say, "Come on, baby!" and
pretend that the spoon is an airplane.
When we're dealing with real
food, though, you are a pretty funny eater. You gorge yourself on certain
foods (avocado, bell peppers, berries of any sort, apples, crackers and
carrots) but won't touch other foods (mostly protein). You love
applesauce - but only if it's in a squeeze pouch. Milk is still your
drink of choice, but you enjoy lemonade, too (you call it "Daddy's drink"
because he was the first one to share that with you). You really have no
interest in other juice options!
Your vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and you are always surprising us with your word choices. When I ask if you want more milk, you will pause and say thoughtfully, "Actually...yes." The other day I asked if you were ready to help me clean up and you said, "Um, probably not."
This birthday is special, too,
because it's the first birthday where you've really understood that you will
get presents. I've asked you several times (because I want to make sure
you really get what you want) what presents you would like this year.
Your response? "Toy dinosaurs. A pink one for in the day
and a blue one for at night." Very specific. Very strange, but
very specific. Daddy and I will do our best to meet those demands.
And speaking of demands, you
are making more and more assertive requests all the time. You get very
mad at us when we don't meet these demands (which, in our defense, are kind of
hard to guess at sometimes!) and can tantrum like a champ. If we try to
explain why you can't do something, you just yell, "Stop talking to
me!" and continue to tantrum until you feel better. Three should be
a very interesting year for all of us...
Regardless of the headaches
that come with your tantrums, I celebrate them because I know they mean you are
developing your independence and learning how to be your own self. You
have always amazed me with your Sarah-ness, and I look forward to watching you
grow in the coming year. You'll have a lot to contend with (a new sister
this spring, preschool in the fall, and everything else life will throw at us
in the next twelve months), but I know you will continue to be the amazing,
bright, self-assured girl you are.
I love you so much, Little Bit.
Happy, happy birthday!
Love,
Mommy
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