Dear Kaelyn,

I cannot believe you are three years old! I can remember the moment we met so clearly, that in a way, it feels like yesterday. I still get choked up thinking about when I saw the tiny features of your face for the first time, and remembering how I was overcome with the distinct feeling that you were meant to be ours.

Now, I look at those steel blue eyes of yours, usually accompanied by a sly grin, and I can’t help but laugh. You are so completely silly, but in a generally calm, quiet way. You love to say things that don’t make sense just to make us all giggle.

You have blossomed from being the baby of the family into the astounding big sister you are now. You look at Nella and say “my baby”, or “my sit-sta (sister)” as you embrace her and talk to her in the sweetest little voice that you only use with babies.

Your toddlerhood has been very calm. You very rarely throw a tantrum or have mood swings. If I had to pick just two words to describe you, they’d be sweet and spunky.

Your favorite stuffed animals are your pink Piggy, your dog Cinnamon, and your beanie baby bear, Candy (who was named by you because he reminds you of those Valentine’s sweetheart candies).You take care of all of them as if they are your babies, and I love how gentle and loving you are as you tend to them.

You are still completely obsessed with “bluey” (blue).

Your sentences have improved dramatically over the last two months or so. You say most everything very clearly, with accurate pronunciation, so I think even people who don’t know you well would be able to understand you. You still use “me” instead of “I” as a subject, but it’s so cute that I almost wish you’d never realize it’s wrong.

You love art. You color inside the lines in your coloring books and use paint very carefully. You’ve even started drawing people, which are mostly round circles with little specks inside them.

You are so sensitive when it comes to friends and family. If we read you a book (like Little Cub by Olivier Dunrea) where the main character is alone, you actually start to cry for him. You also cried for the horse, Spirit, from the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, when he was separated from his family and couldn’t get back. I love how family is already so important to you at this young age.

Your very favorite book is BooBoo (Gossie & Friends) by Olivier Dunrea. You giggle when Daddy reads it “wrong” on purpose. He’ll say, “BooBoo is a small yellow gosling…”, and you’ll laugh while correcting him, “No… BooBoo is a small BLUE gosling!”

You are a problem solver, like your daddy. You love to do puzzles and figure things out, but you’re also great at solving real-life problems. If you and Kaya are arguing over the same item, and you see it’s creating a difficult situation, you will often just let Kaya have whatever the item is and then move on, even if it’s something you really want. It’s not that you’re giving up the fight; I think you are really good at assessing situations and seeing the bigger picture.

You have an incredible attention span for your age, as well as excellent fine motor skills. You nearly completed an entire perler-bead puppy in one afternoon, which takes a lot of focus and precision for someone so little. You finished it as soon as you had the chance the next morning. I was so proud of you for doing it all on your own!

If we ask you what your name is, you always say, “Baba Grace!” Daddy has also brought back one of the nicknames we used to call you when you were a baby, “Kaecakes”, and you seem to like that one, too.

You have done preschool with Kaya for the past couple of years, just on your own terms. I’ve never required you to work on writing, reading, or math, but you’re already starting to try by yourself. You can spell your nickname (“B-A-B-A, Baba!”), and you’ve started trying to memorize the letter sounds. Anytime you see an “m” you say, “mmmm mmmm!” You can count correctly to eleven all on your own. You’re so excited to “officially” start “preschool… at home!” here soon.

Anytime you and I are eating the same thing or doing the same activity, you say we’re “buddies!” If we both have a cucumber, we’re “cucumber buddies!” Haha.

I still put you down for a nap every day, but you often would rather sit up in your bed, looking at books, doing a small puzzle, or drawing. You stay awake as long as you can, even though you really are tired and in need of some rest.

Blueberry is your favorite flavor of everything. You’d eat a blueberry yogurt for lunch every day if we had an endless stockpile. You’re so excited to go blueberry picking this summer, and I’m sure you’re going to have a hard time not eating all of them as we go.

Your favorite song is “Dirt on My Boots”, by Jon Pardi. Any time it comes on the radio, you start rocking back and forth if we’re in the car, and galloping across the floor if we’re at home. You call it “my boots song!” You say you like it because it “has cowboys” (and it does, in the lyric music video).

You love chapstick and lipgloss and will never turn me down when I offer to put some on you. I save my nearly-empty chapstick tubes for you to finish off so that you won’t play with my real ones, because you love to roll them up until they break!

Sometimes, when Daddy is tucking Kaya in at night, I sneak into your bed and snuggle with you. You like to throw your little arms around my neck and say “Stay with me forever!”, and sometimes I wish I could.

You are really becoming a sweet little friend of mine. You love to hear stories about when you were a baby, and I love to tell you all about how excited we were to know you were joining our family.I love you so much, Kaelyn Grace. Happy 3rd birthday, baby girl!