Dear SR on your 4th Birthday

I wrote this before SR's 4th birthday and didn't manage to publish it on December 28th.  Here it is now.

Dear SR,

My beautiful, creative, imaginative, shining star.  I can't believe it's been 4 years since you were placed in my arms - a bundle of personality!

From the first moment I held you, all I could think of was the Kevin Henkes book, Chrysanthemum.  You were absolutely perfect, and you needed a name that was absolutely perfect - and I threw away the list of names I had decided on and debated about which name would suit you.  And your name, SR, is absolutely perfect.

You were a wonderful baby - you ate, you slept, you never got into any mischievous, you learned, and you role played.  From a very very young age, you role played with anything you could get your hands on.  And here you are 4 years old, and still miss Dramatic - role playing with dolls, paper, a piece of fluff on the floor.  You are either going to be a writer, an actress, or a lawyer :)

You are the very youngest Junior Kindergarten student - all of your friends/classmates are already 4 and on their way to age 5.  You were just fine holding your own with your peers as a 3 year old.  You understand number, time, shapes, solids, and language.  You can correct your own grammar, tell me which primary colours make secondary colours, and recall things that you've read or seen.  You can even make connections in proper context - "mommy, my tummy hurts in the same place as my uterus."

You clearly articulate all that you are feeling - you hurt my feelings when you..., I didn't like it when you....  You have the cutest expressions - grown up in a little girl's voice - "certainly, I'd like to do that." "why yes of course I'd like to have..."  You tell me when I'm preoccupied - "mommy, look at this."  "I am looking..." "no you're not."

You love to sing and dance and read.  You are finally taking an interest in writing and colouring/drawing with more than one colour and making more than just a circle on a paper - now at least you might make two circles :)

You dearly love J-Bear.  He sometimes touches your stuff or tries to take my attention from you.  But at the end of the day, you are selfless and thoughtful.  You cry and apologize profusely when you think you have caused him any harm....but you just as easily can act like a sister and put J-Bear in his proper place, with you in charge :)  At nights, when he wants to sit on my lap during your turn, you thoughtfully move over to share, or you sit on your stuffed dog so J can sit on my lap.  You tolerate him messing up your room and your books, and you teach him everything he needs to know.  The two of you have a great time causing mischief.

I love your zest for life.  You are so excited about everything:  about learning, friends, music, shows, princesses.  Your daily outfits are a long sleeved t-shirt with a princess shirt over top.  You know what you are scared of and you insist that I return Frozen to the library, even though it is our own personal copy.

At your birthday party, you were the perfect hostess.  As each of your friends arrived, you found them a seat at the craft table and introduced them to whoever was in the next seat.  This was without any prompting from me (as I was preoccupied with your brother).

You were also in total shock that Ariel was at your party - and your vibrant personality disappeared for a bit - maybe instead of talking about the fact that we invited Ariel and would she come to your party, I should have prepared you more by saying she was coming.  So sorry!

 

Happy birthday my dear SR.  I love you so much.  You are my very closest friend.  Sometimes we argue with each other (today you screamed at me that "I am very very very mad at you mommy"), but no matter how mad you get at me, I will always love you!

Love, Mommy