Three and fearless

Dear Little Cucumber,

Yesterday you turned three!  You are so big. Tall. Outspoken. Fearless. Fast. Loud. BIG.

I am an overly cautious Mom, always seeing the danger around the corner, the potential for things to go wrong, the possibility of broken bones and hurt hearts.  You jump first, think later.  And, yes, I get that you are three and therefore do not have the best judgement— but, honestly, Little Elephant wasn’t like this.  You truly are fearless.

You are a good big sister and delight in show everyone how you can do things she cannot.  When Little Squeaker gets hurt, you run to comfort her.  You give the best hugs— generally hurdling your whole body at the object of your affection.

You continue to be a “Daddy’s girl”.  And, who can say that is wrong.  Daddy is parent, friend, jungle gym, and energizer bunny all wrapped into one.  With him, your Albanian is getting really good.  With the nanny, your Georgian is expanding— you even know several songs and tons of words.  The house is a linguistic wonderland. 

You weigh 35 pounds and are in constant motion.  You are becoming more picky— you want to pick your meals (you love fruit and pasta), your clothes (must have tags), and your activities (preferably the high energy kind that make Mama nervous).

With COVID, you don’t get to play with other kids, but are happy enough with your sisters.  You love, on the weekends, to go for drives with Mama to look for “kafshet” (animals) in the hills around the house.  This is also the only way I can get you to nap.  You love dogs, dancing, ballerinas, “Janiel Tiger”, and space (including knowing facts about planets and stars).

For you birthday, we took a trip.  Two planes and we made it to Chicago.  Two hours to pick up a car and less then two hours drive, we were at Nana and Gjyshi’s house.  14 days later we were over jetlag and enjoyed a day of playgrounds, friends’ dog, and pasta dinner with the family.  

You exhaust me.  You know how to press my buttons and get a rise out of me.  You terrify me.  You test limits.  And still, you being more more joy then I could ever imagine.  I’ll love you til the cows come home from a trip to Mars in a rocket ship made of glass and stone.

Love,

Mama