Each year, I write a
letter to my girls on their birthday, describing how they’ve grown and changed
over the past twelve months. One of the
best things about having a blog is being able to record memories and
it’s so special to now have posts like this one and this one to look back on. As I took a little break from blogging the
week of Grace’s third birthday, I didn’t get a chance to share this so
here it is one month late…
To my darling Grace,
Three years ago, Daddy and
I were truly blessed when you joined the world and became a part of our family. Having dreamt of you for so long, you were
such a precious gift to us both. Three
years on and you continue to fill our world with love, laughter and cheekiness
every day.
Looking back at photos, it’s
amazing to see how you have changed over the past twelve months. Most noticeable is that you’ve got lots of
hair – it’s still quite fine but pretty curls now surround your sweet face and
we can even tie your hair into pigtails.
You’ve grown a lot in height, definitely taking after Daddy with your
long legs.
You are even more of a
chatterbox now than you were a year ago.
The other morning, as Daddy left for work amongst your nattering, he remarked
that you’d already said more in the time you’d been awake than he’d probably
say all day! You are forever coming out
with lines that show your sense of humour, your compassion and your caring nature. Last night, when I asked how much you loved
Mummy, you replied with ‘I love you all the way to Nan’s house’.
As you are getting older,
you’re becoming more content to play independently and will spend long lengths
of time in your ‘big girls room’, scattering toys everywhere in the
process. You still adore your stuffed animals, in
particular Baa Baa and each night, you tuck them all in safely beside you in
bed. Movies like ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Toy
Story’ are still firm favourites but your new obsession is ‘Mary Poppins’. You love the songs, her ‘beautiful dress’ and
the chimney sweeps whose fancy footwork you try to copy. In recent months, you’ve gone through a stage
of having a ‘dressing up’ obsession. We’ve
often found you in bed in all sorts of outfits, usually the fairy dress
(complete with crown and wand), but at others times bathers, a party dress or
your ‘pretty gold shoes’ have made their way under your blankets in the middle
of the night. You often tell me your name
is “not Grace, FAIRY Grace”’ and the other night as I was dishing up your
tea you asked, “Can the Princess have her tea?”
During the past year, you’ve
become a doting big sister to Sophie.
You enjoy helping look after her and share in our excitement as she
learns new things. It is so heart warming
to watch you delight in each other’s company.
The other night you asked if Sophie could sleep in your room one night. When Daddy asked what you’d do if
she woke during the night you replied with, “I’ve got boobies so I can feed her
milk.”
My darling possum, I am so
proud of the sweet natured little girl you have grown into. Your kindness, lovely manners, compassion and
sense of humour are all traits I hope you carry on into the coming years. You teach me so much every day and I am forever grateful that you are mine.
All the love in the world,
Mummy x
Now that Grace is that bit
older, I’ve decided to also do a little interview with her each year on her
birthday. Here are her exact responses
to the series of questions I will ask her each year …
1. What is your favourite colour? Pink
2.
What is your favourite
toy? My favourite toy’s Baa Baa
3.
What is your favourite
fruit? I like pineapple
4.
What is your favourite
TV show? I like Peppa Pig
5.
What is your favourite
thing to eat for lunch? I like egg,
pineapple and fruit. That’s what I like.
6.
What is your favourite
outfit? I like the party dress
7.
What is your favourite
game? I like to play puzzles and I like
to go outside
8.
What is your favourite
snack? Berry balls I think. I like Berry Balls.
9.
What is your favourite
animal? I like cats
10.
What is your favourite
song? I like (the) Hokey Pokey one
11.
What is your favourite
book? I think the Cinderella book
12.
Who is your best
friend? Asha
13.
What is your favourite
cereal? Coco Pops
14.
What is your favourite
thing to do outside? Ride my bike and
pick flowers and play with Asha
15.
What is your favourite
drink? I like orange juice to drink
16.
What is your favourite
holiday? I like going to Denmark
17.
What do you like
to take to bed with you at night? Doofa,
Terry, Baa Baa, Sheppie and Hootie and Baby Doggy
18.
What is your favourite
thing to eat for breakfast? Cocopops I
think. I think I like them all day.
19.
What is your favourite
thing Mummy makes you for tea? Salad
20.
What do you want
to be when you grow up? I think I might
be a fairy
Adorable, Amanda! Such a beautiful idea and wonderful treasure for Grace to keep xx
ReplyDeleteI love the interview. It will be so wonderful for Grace to look back on someday. x
ReplyDelete'I think I might be a fairy' - how innocent and precious they are at this age :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you write letters to your girls Amanda. Children change so much during their childhoods that this is a wonderful way to keep those memories stored. Also love the interview, it will be interesting to see how her tastes have changed in a year.
x
I'm hoping on their 18th birthdays, I'll box of letters to give them each :)
DeleteWhat a great thing to do so she can look back on this in years to come. Love the Denmark answer, very cute! x
ReplyDeleteDenmark in the south of WA is our little 'home away from home' town - Grace talk often about the animal farm we visited last year when we were there :)
DeleteAAAAWWW, thats so so sweet amanda!! oh, yes i was thinking about the Denmark bit!! How gorgeous that you write to them each year. I think i was thinking of doing something like that when my boys were little but never ended up doing it ... only hav myself to blame!! Have a wonderful weekend gorgeous girl!!
ReplyDeleteLaura xx
Amanda I love this idea , I think I might borrow it from you. I've missed a few years but I think it is never to late to start . I have enjoyed watching Grace grow and now little Sophie.
ReplyDeleteKaryn x
Precious, Amanda. I do something similar with the pixies on their birthdays. I write them letters and seal them up with the date on them and place them in their special boxes. I'll wrap them with ribbon and present them to them on their 18ths. J x
ReplyDeleteI was curious about Denmark too! Love the list and the letter, such a gorgeous thing to do and your girls will treasure them one day. x
ReplyDeleteOh I just love this!! What a little sweetheart and the letter made me shed a tear... What a lovely mummy you are too xx
ReplyDeleteI love both your letter and the interview. It is such a wonderful idea. I hope I can do the same one day for my little one xx
ReplyDeleteThis is just beautiful Amanda and so very special to have. Grace will love to look back on this when she is a bigger girl. Such wonderful memories captured and remembered so beautifully. I loved reading Grace's responses, I can hear her saying them, it's so very cute. xx
ReplyDeleteHi gorgeous, thank you for your lovely comments the other day, they mean so much.
ReplyDeleteWriting letters to my girls is something I wish I had done. Your letter made me cry! I love that you are so organised with memory keeping, you'll never regret it! The interview is fantastic too. Friends of ours interview their three children every year and record it on video, it's so funny. Have a lovely week..Rachael xxx
This is wonderful! Such a great keepsake for your girls. They are going to have big laughs with this...and such a beautiful letter from Mama.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to remember the interview idea for when Sassy is a little older x
ps. Grace really is such a pretty little thang :)
LOVE IT! It's a great idea to interview each year... I'll have to copy that idea for my soon to be 4 year old. :)
ReplyDeleteMe again, Amanda. You've reminded me - soon I'll be writing the same letter to Sammy! Thanks so much for joining the POTMC. J x
ReplyDelete