Dear Jaye,
This summer, you will turn four. Four seems like such a big age for you to be, really a kid and not a baby or even a toddler.
And lately, you have really made big leaps to be a big kid. You are so determined to do everything yourself. And I’m not just talking about getting dressed. You cook. You fold laundry. You make coffee. You frequently get irritated that I know more about things than you.
You are very curious and intelligent. You ask questions all day long, from questions about what something is made of or who made it to queries about why someone is feeling a certain way. You wonder about days and time and months. You want to be able to drive now.
You can also read, entire books. You’ve been reading for over six months. This morning you stayed in your room after waking up for an hour and a half reading to yourself. You read with emotion in your voice and sometimes even make different voices for different characters. Right now, you are really enjoying Frog and Toad and a library book called Sophie’s Squash (Dada even got you a squash at the store and you sleep with it).
You are at gymnastics class right now. You don’t like the beginning of class where all the kids go in the bounce house. Instead, you hang out with the coaches then. But you love the trampoline and are really learning a lot of tricks on the bars and rings.
School and bugs are your biggest sources of stress. Even fruit flies sometimes make you cry. This fear is hard for me to deal with because I can’t keep the house bug-free for you. We talk a lot about how you are a giant to the bugs and they are more scared of you.
Dropping you off at school has gotten hard this summer. All the progress we made through the school year went away as teachers and friends and classroom change frequently for the summer camps. You express social anxiety about whether friends will like you or play with you. It’s so hard to leave you. Im not sure how to reassure you and help you, but you are always having fun when I pick you up and tell me all the great things you did at school.
You are very into Elsa and her ice powers right now and often pretend you are Elsa. I think your 4th birthday party is going to have a Frozen theme.
This morning you smiled and talked to Cy and he smiled back. You were SO excited and kept repeating the same phrase to him all day hoping he would smile again.
I’m so proud of you and the little person you are. You’re the best daughter ever and I’ll never ever stop loving you, Jaye.
I love the fact daddy got you a squash and you sleep with it. I love reading about you Jaye. You are a beautiful girl. It’s okay to be a little bit anxious when going into a group of people, but just remember there are other little girls there feeling the same way and you can maybe be very friendly and say hi to everyone to make sure no one else is scared.
My precious granddaughter! Mama has written her love note to you and I must add a postscript. You are such a light and joy in Mimi’s life! You are so funny and sweet and inventive and creative and brilliant and hilarious. I love playing with you and reading to you and spending time with you. What a blessing to watch you grow up! I will never, ever stop loving you!!!