Shark!

Dear Lila,

Some things about my Lilabear:

-This is how you currently count: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, twelve [you always skip from seven to twelve], three-teen, fourteen, fifteen . . ."

-You learned how to ride your scooter on your own after just two trips to the playground.

-You weigh about 39 pounds now (that's almost as much as GuhGaw and more than many of his 4-year-old friends!).

-You eat foods that some adults don't even like to eat: onions, celery, bean sprouts and bok choy.

-You've graduated from calling me Mama to calling me Mommy (which I'm sad about; I like Mama!).

-You like to draw, pretend to cook in your play kitchen, sing and dance, play with trains with your brother and build things with Legos and your favorite toys are your princess figurines and princess castle. Belle is your favorite Disney princess and it's cute the way you pronounce the other princesses' names: Slee Booey (Sleeping Beauty), Rorah (Aurora), Aree (Ariel), Schnoh Why (Snow White), Cindalella (Cinderella).

Dressed up as your favorite princess!

-When I'm laying down in bed, you often sit next to me and say, "You Schnoh Why, me Prince." Then you hold my face, kiss me on the lips and "wake" me up. So adorable!

-When you watch TV, you often sit with your hands folded in your lap. So proper!

-You love to hide under blankets.

-You also love to play this shark game you invented. I know you want to play when you climb onto the couch, get this concerned look on your face and shout, "Shark! Shark!" We sit on our boat (the couch) and look out for the shark in the water (the living room floor). You pretend to slip off the boat and shout "Whooooa! Whooooa!" But fortunately, I always pull you back up onto the boat before the shark can get you. We play this almost every day and you can "fall" off the boat over and over without tiring of the game!

Love,
Mom