Dear Zianne,
I sit here on the eve of your third birthday, slightly exhausted yet overjoyed. In the past month, I have started a new job, we moved to a new house, and I spend my days and my nights running after you and your now-very-mobile younger sister.
In my slightly frazzled state, I am trying to think back to this time a year ago… when you turned two. You’ve always been big for your age and extra articulate, even back then, but in the past year you transitioned from the remnant of baby to a full-fledged little girl. You run around on long legs, use terms like “arabesque” and “plié” when you dance, and you love coffee dates and trips to Target. You’ve memorized a million books and love to spell out words you see on the page.
Sometimes you remind me so much of myself, it’s startling. You are incredibly verbal, you love school, you are extroverted, confident, and animated. Sometimes when we are talking, just the two of us, you’ll put your face right in mine, eyes wide, and start speaking in a serious, emphatic whisper. I don’t think you do this with anyone else. It’s like a secret language between two firstborn daughters who love to communicate deeply.
I don’t worry about many things in parenting, but one thing I fear from time to time is that we will grow apart as you get older. I don’t let myself dwell on it often, but I do hope our similarities strengthen our bond as you grow up instead of driving us apart.
But as with most things in parenting, I simply have to trust the Lord with what our future relationship holds. I know this to be true: God made me to be your mom, and He wove together our many similarities as well as our distinct differences. And I know something else… I love you now, and I will love you then – when you are five, fifteen, thirty-five, fifty. Even when you are old and I am much older, I will whisper to you, “You’re my girl,” and I hope you will always whisper in return, “I’m your girl, mom.”
Love you forever,
Mom
Love that little three-years-old princess!