Dear Maddie,
You have now completed five entire years of life. I’m not even sure I can find a place to begin
to tell you about the past year. So much
has happened in your life and you are growing up so fast.
You are a very girly girl. You love all things princess. If it’s purple with glitter and ruffles you’ll
love it – no matter what it is. This
love of pretty and sparkly also means you love Barbies and My Little Pony. The glitzier the dresses and hairbows and
shoes are, the better. You love to dress
up and would wear a dress every single day if I allowed it.
A few days ago we moved to Broadway Street. And this is probably the most fitting place
in the entire world for you to live. You
sing, dance, twirl, act, and perform every single second of the day. I mean, it really boggles my mind the way you
stay “in character” as you go through a normal day. It is not at all uncommon for you to come
into the kitchen, curtsy and say (in a flowery voice), “May I have a drink
please madam?” This amuses me greatly
and absolutely confounds your father. It’s
clear that this penchant for acting came from my side of the gene pool. Which would be something to be rather prideful
about if it didn’t also come with a rather unpleasant side effect. The fits you can throw are pretty
amazing. And as much as I don’t love
your flair for the dramatic all the time, I know that you will walk through
your life with a passion. And I like
that.
You went to Creation Station Preschool this year and you
loved every single minute of it. You loved
your teachers and made so many wonderful friends. I heard that you were a very cooperative and
attentive student. I love listening to
your stories and seeing your face light up when you tell me about your day. You’re a smart one. Last night you asked me for a box because you
needed something for Barbie and “all her materials”.
You have two favorite activities. One is using anything with a screen; tv,
computer, leap pad, you name it. I do my
best to limit your screen time because you would literally sit there all day
long. The other favorite is anything
crafty. You LOVE stickers and markers
and paints and playdough. You beg for
craft time every single day. You spend
hours and hours just coloring pictures.
While you do, you talk and talk and talk to yourself – telling little
stories about the pictures you color.
Also, you are a fantastic colorer.
You won first place in a coloring contest at Daddy’s work and took home
an awesome little prize.
Things have gotten interesting with your big sister this
past year. You still love her like
crazy, but I can see that you are trying so hard to keep up. You want to do all the big girl things she
gets to do. And it is a major struggle
when she gets to do something that you don’t.
It would be easier for me to just make sure you both got all the same
things. And to some extent, I do try to
make things even. But I also respect
that you need to learn that life is not always fair, it is not always
quid-pro-quo, it is not always balanced.
Sometimes, someone else will have something better than you. On the flip side, you have been graced with
one of the kindest and most compassionate older siblings I could have
imagined. Reagan is so very generous to
you – sharing half of every piece of candy with you, giving you stickers from
her own sticker stash, coloring pictures for you at school, and being so loving
and sweet. I hope and pray that you will
always be such good friends.
And then there is Hunter.
Since Reagan is gone to school during the day, you have had to contend
with the little guy all on your own. I
expected you to actually be greatly annoyed with his interference. But I was wrong. You take him downstairs and you play
together. I hear him knock something
over and listen to you laugh. You sing
to him while he rummages around in the toy bin.
You watch out for him and tell me right away if he’s doing something
naughty. But by far, one of the sweetest
parts of my day is when it is his nap time.
You sit with him lying across your lap in the rocking chair and feed him
his cup of milk before he gets put in his crib.
And while you sit there and rock him gently, you sing to him and stroke
his wispy hair. He usually gets
smothered in kisses from you when he is done.
I love that you want to do this – that you beg to do this – every morning. He’s not a tiny little baby anymore but you
still dote on him and coddle him and want to take care of him. I am so thankful for this tenderness in your
heart.
You are probably the most physically affectionate child I
have ever known. You love to hold my
hand. You insist on sitting in my lap at
church during the entire service. You
want to be carried even though you are quite tall. You give kisses and hugs and little touches
all day long. There is this part of you
that so longs to be cuddled and
cherished. And most of it is aimed at
me. During your five years of life I
have never been away from you for more than 24 hours. Yep.
That’s a lot of togetherness. Consequently,
you are extremely attached to me. When I
leave the house to go to a meeting, you are devastated. Sometimes I have to sneak out because that’s
actually easier on everyone. I like that
you want me so much. I’m sure there will
come a day when maybe you don’t. But for
now, it’s nice to be your favorite person in the whole world.
Just a few weeks ago we attended your spring
concert. Obviously, this was an awesome
night for you because you got to dress up, go on a stage, and sing. I mean, really, there is little else you need
to be happy. You marched your little
self on up there to the top row of the bleachers and sang every song with all
those actions. And then you all sang “I
have decided to follow Jesus” in English and Spanish. It was lovely, all those little ones with you
singing how they won’t turn back. And as
the week went on, you sang it almost endlessly in our house. Oh Maddie, how I hope that is always the song
in your heart. I pray that this well of
passion and intensity and creativity always chases after the God who is
pursuing you. So many of your qualities
echo those of your Creator and I can see Him in you. I can just imagine the smile on His face as He
watches you twirl around in our house, making up your songs about how you love Him
so. You are a joy and a delight to all
of us, and a precious treasure in the eyes of One who loves you more than we
could ever imagine.
Happy 5th birthday you sassy sweet little
girl. You make every day a great
adventure.
I love you.
Love,
Momma
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