Letter Month Twenty-One

Dear Sarah Graves,

I can't tell you how much fun you are.  You are bursting with energy and really enjoying being your own person.  You are so loving and give affection so freely.  You come up and just hug us or pat us to let us know how you feel.  It is so cute to see you love us with the same fierceness that I love you. 

Music class has really encouraged you to find your voice for singing.  You sing often.  You sing the la-la-la-la-la portion of Elmo's song and the simple sounds of another song that we learned at Music Together.  You move with rhythm, clap along with beats, and love to dance!  I never dreamed that you would get so much out of music class.  It really is the highlight of our week. 

You really enjoy going to school.  Whenever I mention going to school, you always talk about babies and shoes.  You refer to all kids as babies and you seem to have a fondness for a little boy named Chase.  He is the only child in your class that you mention by name.  You proudly walk into your school wearing your backpack and carrying your lunchbox (you are little Hercules).  We get good reports that you listen well, you are sweet to the other kids, and you are very fast to run and climb.  I am always surprised to hear how calmly you take a seat at the table and start to play with a puzzle or game.  At first, I was sure they meant that you had tried to carry the chair with you or had climbed on to the table, but I was wrong and you behave very well at school.  I am very proud of you for being such a big girl and handling yourself so well at school.  I am also so happy that you have sweet teachers that seem to genuinely care about you.   

You seem to have made the transition to just one long afternoon nap.  You seem much more capable of getting through the morning without the early nap.  It has made your schedule a little easier to manage too, knowing when you will need to sleep. 

Eating is still a battle for us.  You want to graze throughout the day and it drives me a little crazy.  Some days you are very hungry and want to eat three scrambled eggs for breakfast, your favorite food right now.  Other days you ask for eggs, but only eat a couple of bites and five minutes after you get down you want something to eat again.  You are so picky about fruits vegetables, and meats.  I am never sure what you will like.  One pretty constant favorite is mandarin oranges.  That's the only fruit that you seem to really like.  Vegetables are almost impossible to get you to eat unless it's a puree mixed in with some pasta or rice.  I know this is payback for how picky I was as a kid and I know you will eat as much as you need, but it is difficult to put you to bed knowing you must be hungry. 

We have really been having a good time with you.  We've been doing things like going to the amusement park and the pumpkin patch.  We get outside and play in evenings, blowing bubbles and drawing with sidewalk chalk.  You really are a great little person just as you are.  I am thrilled to have you in my life. 

Love,

Momma