three and a half

Dear Addison,

You asked me in the car yesterday if you were really three and a half now. Yes. Yes you are. You're not a baby anymore and this makes me both sad and happy. I see you do new things everyday. Just recently you wrote your name for the first time. I love how you dot your "i" with a circle and you like to color in your "o". It all seems so grown up. But then you ask me to help you with your "s" and I know my baby girl is still in there, for now. Then came the stick figure drawing with the big eyeballs that looked just like me. Maybe I had a big belly and no legs, but I got it. You love to practice coloring inside the lines and could draw for hours. You want to practice learning to read words and letters too. We play Candy Land and do puzzles together. I always let you win.

You can now pump your legs on the swing, but still like when I grab you by your feet, pull you up high and let you go. The smile on your face as you fly back makes me so happy. You've finally learned how to roll the bread into balls and throw it in the lake for the fish, but you still like to eat it so I have to make sure that I bring good bread outside too. Riding your bike is a new passion. You go up and down the street without any worries. Sometimes you try to turn around in a small circle which causes you tip over and you cry out for me to help. You are freaked out by the sound of loud cars and motorcyles and come running to my side when you hear one. See, my baby girl is still in there.

You have the cutest giggle when I tickle you. And I die laughing when you tell us you just peed your panties a little because we tickled you so hard. I'm laughing now just thinking about it. You love to do everything on your own. The other night you cleared your plate from the table, put your pajamas on by yourself and even brushed your teeth. But you always have me do one brush around just to make sure we got everything. You're a little OCD just like me. It's both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on the situation. Music is a huge hit, but only the good songs as you call them. I love when you sing along and I catch a glimpse of you dancing in the back seat. For the record, you get your moves from your dad.

You love your sister so much. Most mornings you snuggle on the couch, drink milk and watch Oso together. You randomly hug her and give her kisses which melts my heart to see. You have the best intentions, but every once in awhile you try to help her along which accidentally knocks her over. You've changed your bedtime routine just a little and will now let Daddy read to you at night, but you still need me to sing you songs and cover you up. I love coming back 10 minutes later to tell you that I love you one more time and find you hugging what use to be my teddy bear. You have that sleepy look in your eyes when you look up at me and say "love you too mommy". At that moment the small tantrums and the not listening from the day just don't matter anymore. You are still waking up at night for random, unknown reasons. I promise we would all feel better if we could sleep through the night.

You looked pretty darn cute at the Halloween festival this past weekend. You are slowing starting to like the camera again.

Mommy loves you so much. A small part of you will always be my baby girl.

Love,
me