Nursery School Grad

Dear Lila,

GuhGaw came down with the incredibly contagious coxsackie virus last week and despite my best efforts to keep you two apart, you do live in the same house after all, so you caught it, too. You developed a fever on Wednesday and had the telltale red sores on your hands and feet yesterday (and impressed me by actually asking for medicine so that you could feel better). Back in December, you missed your winter holiday show (and the chance to meet Santa) because you got sick that week and I was so upset that you might have to miss your nursery school graduation today, too, but no! Thankfully, you woke up this morning feeling better and were able to make it, yay!

You were sooooooo shy when you started school back in September but you have made such leaps since then. Your teachers told me that by the end of the year, you were participating so well in class, singing along during music time and answering questions during activities. You were super soft-spoken, but you did speak! And outside of class, when we were walking to the playground with your friends, I watched as you gradually came out of your shell and became confident enough to not just talk to your buddies but also to their parents.

You absolutely loved going to school this year. In the mornings, you always asked me if you had school that day and you got excited when I said yes and disappointed when I said no. Sometimes when I said no, you tried to trick me and said you did have school! And every time we drove by your school on the weekends, you'd shout excitedly from your car seat, "My cool! My cool!" (You still can't pronounce those s's, haha). I am so happy that your first school experience was such a positive one. You loved all of your teachers, you made several good friends and you learned and grew so much. I am so proud of you, Lilabear!

Love,
Mom

Danilla Ice

Dear Lila,

Haha, I like the way that you say "danilla" instead of "vanilla."

Love,
Mom

Inside the Lines

Dear Lila,

You used to scribble wildly all over the paper when you colored but seemingly overnight, you have learned to color inside the lines--and you do so really well. You're also really good at tracing letters and drawing lines from one object to another. You're going to be so ready for pre-k next year!

Love,
Mom

Plant Children

Dear Lila,

Yesterday, you were playing by yourself and I asked you what you were playing. You replied, "I'm playing play date. I have to bring all my babies. I don't have any kids, just babies." I asked you what happened to your kids. You said very seriously, "My kids fell onto to the ground, grew into plants and died." Ohhh-kaaaay.

Love,
Mom

Self-Reflection

Dear Lila,

Your nanny changed you into a sundress when you were getting ready for school today and then she left the room to get your sunblock. When she came back to your room, you weren't there and she couldn't find you. She eventually found you in my walk-in closet, where you were admiring your dress in the mirror. Oye.

Love,
Mom

Dry Spell

Dear Lila,

You have been potty trained during the day for a long time now but you were still peeing in your diaper while you were sleeping at night . . . until now! For the past two weeks, your diaper has been completely dry when you wake up in the morning and there were even a couple times when you woke yourself up in the middle of the night and asked me to take you to the bathroom. Yay, you are officially diaper-free!

Love,
Mom

Fashion Over Function

Dear Lila,

I'm girly (if I had to pick between going shopping and going camping, I'd always pick shopping--in fact, I think I'd pick anything over camping) so I don't totally mind that you are, too, but I do worry that you are becoming a little too girly. Your hair is really long and I clip it up so that it stays out of your face but you always take the clip out and let your hair down because you think you look like a boy when I tie your hair up and that you "don't look like a princess." I told you that Belle wears her hair up but you said you wanted to look like Awowa (Aurora).

Then today, it was warm, so I said you could wear a short-sleeved shirt to school. You then suggested that you wear a dress. I said that wasn't a good idea because you were going to play on the playground at school and if you were wearing a dress, it'd be more cumbersome to go down the slide. I said you should wear pants if you wanted to go down the slide. You then said to me, "Okay, Mama. I won't go down the slide." My daughter would rather wear a dress than play on the playground . . . um, huh.

Love,
Mom