You are the Daughter Every Mom Dreams Of

It blows my mind how smart you are. You knew all of your colors at 1.5 years and you started correctly identifying birds at the aviary. You hit all of your developmental milestones well ahead of time and most importantly, you love to learn. You love paying attention to stories and exploring the museum. I love seeing things so shiny and new through your eyes.

You are so kind. You've been saying 'No-kay', which is your pronunciation of 'No, thank you'. You have been working so hard at sharing-- so hard, in fact, that you tried to share your drink with the other germy kids at gymnastics.

You are courageous. Remember that being courageous doesn’t mean that you’re not afraid. Having courage means being afraid, but facing your fears anyways. You love to go down tall slides (and say "Weeee!"), you don't flinch at snakes and you've wanted to swim by yourself since you were 4 months old.

I love the way that you LOVE. You have an overflowing cup of love that you give in energy to others, like your grandparents, your sister... and you recently discovered the neighbor kids and you love "Melia"). But it's not just to family and friends -- you also have love for dogs, for your books, for your science projects, for your art cards.

The truth is, I've been drowning at work as of late. But the thought of giving up my Mondays with you-- our Mommy/Daughter Day-- would break my heart. I've been working late nights & taking a lower salary so we can still share this precious time together. I can't think of anything more meaningful. I do want to work hard and make you proud. I hope that I will! And I'll continue to learn and live all of the lessons you give me on a daily basis.