Dear Mini,

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  You make me happy, when skies are grey.”

Well Min, we have been living in Birmingham for over 4 months already.  Can you believe it?   You have adjusted so perfectly into your new pre-school and dancing school.  You always have been easy to transition.  Never giving us trouble.  You were a dream to potty train, move to a big girl bed, start school.  You make the “hard stuff” pretty easy on me.  Trust me, it is much appreciated.  You still talk about Florida all the time.  Just the other morning you asked about the beach and came out of your room in a bathing suit.  Needless to say it was 38 degrees here in Alabama, but you were insistent on pretending it was a beach day.  So I cranked up the heat and watched you color pictures in your 2 piece.  You can be so silly sometimes.

Joey has become your best friend overnight.  As soon as he started interacting with you, he had you wrapped around his little finger.  You are so in love with each other my heart could just melt.  You have really embraced the “big sister” role.  You always want to feed him (and he always wants to eat), you run into his room when he wakes up to greet him (by jumping in the crib), you love to play soccer in his room before bath time (you two really play a great game of roll-the-ball) and you look out for him.  Like a big sister should.  Sometimes you can be a little bossy, but you can’t help it.  It’s in your nature.  It is so fun for me to watch you two interact and play now that he is old enough to sit next to you and play alongside you.

Your personality is growing as quickly as you are and lately some of the things you say and do are just crazy.  Or as you would tell me, “it’s awesome”.  From stories about ghosts in your brother’s closet to telling me all about the baby in your belly (yes, you really said that), your imagination is pretty incredible.   I hope you always have that sense of wonder about you.  It gives you character and makes you exactly who you are.

I am so glad to say that I think the terrible/toddler/twosandthrees are behind us.  You suddenly seem more grown up.  You are easier to reason with.  You now understand when you misbehave and truly are apologetic.  You have become more independent and helpful.  I am so proud to watch you dress yourself and help me with household chores.  Even if it’s just matching the socks in the laundry basket, it is an important job and you do it fabulously.

You are a strong girl, my dear.  And you inspire me to be a strong mama.

Love always,

Mama