Dear Ariana

Age 4, Dec 2007

For my sunshine,

You are my miracle, and I am grateful for you daily. Even in the moments when I'm gritting my teeth in frustration with you. You are full of energy, curiosity, and love. Nothing is halfway with you, you feel things fully at 150%.

You grew a love for dresses this year and you wore them ALL summer. You were quite put out with me when I told you that you would have to wear pants for school some days. You think you are beautiful when you paint up your face with your makeup and I try to hide my laughter. Never lose that please. You are so proud of yourself when you accomplish a new task, even though getting there is a rough spot. You are also hard on yourself, and you will never know how much this grieves me. You have the best twinkle in your eyes when you are excited. And you make the cutest face when you are mad.

You are growing into such a big girl, and that transformation has become apparent this year. My little 4lb guppie is now a young girl. Not my toddler anymore. I have to ask for kisses more often than you just giving them up. You never give a half-hearted hug, it's full arms tight.

You love your princesses. You also love your dinosaurs and bugs. You play volcano and earthquake. You LOVE to "art" as you call it. You tell us you are going to study volcanoes and tornadoes when you grow up. You are learning that teasing your little brother is fun. You are learning to read and write. When you spell a word that you see and read it to me, it melts my heart. You have friends at school and like your teacher.

You don't like the dark, and I (and sometimes dad too) have to do the "mommy monster dance" when it's time for bed. You insist upon your 3 stories at bedtime and we always sing "You are my sunshine."

You ARE my sunshine. You are unrepeatable.

Love,
Mommy