Dear Abby Kate,
In just under 7 hours, you are going to be 3 years old! When I went into the hospital to have you 3 years ago, I had no idea what a beautiful, smart, spunky, and hilarious little girl you would turn out to be!
You have kept life interesting from the very beginning. You kicked and squirmed your way through my pregnancy with you, making for a very uncomfortable 9 months! As a newborn, and later an infant, you were a force to be reckoned with. You would only sleep while being held, which eventually led to a 7-month-long co-sleeping arrangement between you and me. You liked to "cat-nap," becoming fully rejuvenated and ready for entertainment after 10-15 minutes of sleep. This created some challenges in the laundry and house-cleaning areas of life for a while. Contrary to your big sister (and later your little sister), you were not the baby that would sit in a bouncer while I folded laundry. You were ahead of your age from day 1, and we hit our stride around the time you learned to walk - the week of your first birthday. It took us nearly that long to get you on a decent sleeping routine, and you were such a little mover that you were not content to sit and play on my lap for any amount of time. You wanted to be on the floor, crawling and moving like your big sister. Once you mastered walking, which allowed me to set you free in most locations, you were good to go, running with Christa and her "big" friends!
Your first year was challenging, but we had lots and lots of cuddle time, you and me. You insisted on it, and I'm glad you did. Since that first year, you have been the easiest toddler ever. You've been talking in complete sentences for as long as I can remember - at least a year or more. You've been completely capable of walking up and down stairs and playing with minimal supervision for at least that long, as well. I haven't had to worry about you playing with toys with "small parts not intended for children under 3..." well... ever that I can recall.
Over the last 6 months or so, your personality has really come out. You can clearly verbalize anything that is on your little mind, and you can certainly repeat any word we say. You love to make people laugh, and you are quite good at it. You are so silly and fun, and you light up the room. Your facial expressions are so animated and your whole body exudes whatever you are feeling. Just the other day, Christa and I were playing on my bed while you were napping. I was pretending to be sleeping, and Christa was pretending I was her pillow. You came downstairs, into my room, and immediately crawled up onto my bed. Without missing a beat, you stood up, raised your arms in the air, and loudly declared, "HERE IS ME!" with a huge smile on your face. That is you, baby girl - my confident little one who knows she is the life of the party and will make any situation more fun, regardless of what is going on! We have re-created that moment multiple times since then at your request!
You love to say silly words. For example, I will sometimes ask you a question such as, "what do you want to play now?" You will respond something along the lines of, "Po-do" followed by a belly laugh and a smile so big your eyes squint. At the lake with Cline's side of the family not long ago, you entertained everyone repeatedly just by making a silly noise with a funny hand motion. No one else can quite pull this move off, although several have tried!
I am starting to see some of Christa's sweet, caring heart in you. The other day, you and Elizabeth and I were walking around downtown while Christa was in school. Elizabeth wanted to hold your sunglasses. I expected you to hang onto them, and was prepared to let you keep them, because you love your sunglasses and are very sensitive to the sunlight. It was kind of overcast that day, though, so you handed them to Elizabeth, saying, "here, you can hold them." I actually tried to talk you out of it, claiming that Elizabeth might break them. You assured me she wouldn't, and that it was fine for Elizabeth to have them. You were right - the sunglasses survived, and I was so proud of you for sharing. Later on, you asked me if Elizabeth could play with some of your toys when we got home! Such a sweet girl, you are!
You are sleeping in a big girl bed, now, and we just took down your crib. Your big girl room has 2 twin beds in it, and Christa claimed the second bed as soon as we put it up. So, I guess you guys are sharing a room for now. It melts my heart when I walk by and see you girls snuggled in the same twin bed in the morning! You love both of your sisters so much! All 3 of you have a blast together. You love to play in Elizabeth's crib with her, especially in the morning. You will tell me, "Elizabeth is awake. I need to go get her." So, I'll open the door to her room for you, and you will crawl into her crib, and the two of you will laugh and jump and be silly together. After a little while, I will go in to find you sucking on Elizabeth's pacifier and most of the toys thrown on the floor.
You are a little "negotiator" as we discussed tonight at dinner. Elizabeth is at a hard age to entertain at the dinner table, so while we were eating at Outback tonight, she started to get restless. I asked for a package of crackers to keep her occupied just a little longer. You requested a cracker, and I told you no - that they were for Elizabeth. You, in typical Abby-Kate fashion, said in the sweetest sing-song voice, "I can have just ooooone cracker." I laughed, and said no again. Then you said, "I will eat one bite of my macaroni and cheese and then can I have one cracker?" I agreed and said, "you are a little negotiator." You threw yourself into my lap, smiled, laughed, and said, "I'm not a gotiator." Yes, you are, my sweet girl - my hilarious, confident, "gotiator."
We are planning to celebrate your birthday tomorrow with a small "Barbie" party. You have been talking about wearing a pink, barbie, birthday dress on your birthday for months. By some stroke of luck, I found this exact dress at T.J. Maxx a couple of months ago, and picked it up, since it was on clearance. I hope you're excited when you see it! We decided to just have a family party this year at the house, with 2 your two closest friends. Between your cousins and our extended family, I wanted to keep it kind of small, although there are lots of people who we would have loved to celebrate with! It's just as well that we kept it small, though, because Christa has had a small fever for the last few days, and Elizabeth spiked one tonight. So, I'm not sure what that will mean for tomorrow's festivities, but we will make the day special, nonetheless! I'm thinking chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and we'll go on with our plan to dress up, have a makeover, and play with dollar-store Barbies, even if it's just you and Christa and some of the adults in the family :)
One last thing I forgot to mention about you - you love to dress up. You love to change clothes, and do so about 5 times a day, going through our various dress-up and ballet clothes. You love to wear swimsuits, and often sleep in one. And whenever we have people over, you're going to run through the house naked at least once. You've earned a reputation for this, and our church small group can vouch for it :)
Well, Abber-McDabbersons, I'm off to wrap your presents and get ready for your party tomorrow. I love you so much and thank God every day for putting you into our family! I hope and pray you always have the confidence you have now and that you will use your gift of making people laugh to do great things!
Happy 3rd Birthday!
Mommy
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