Dear Kaya,

It’s hard to believe that four years have already passed since I first held you in my arms. You were our first little miracle, and each day, I am still filled with gratitude and wonder that your care has been entrusted to us.

You are a nurturer. Compassion comes naturally to you, whether it’s for a baby, a plant, an animal, or anyone who is hurt or upset. You are always playing with your baby doll, or pretending that Kaelyn is your real baby, and you need to take care of her. Sometimes, in the mornings now, you even help your little sister get dressed and ready for the day. I’m so appreciative of your willingness to contribute to our family.

You are a protector. You always watch out for Kaelyn, making sure she isn’t doing anything unsafe or breaking any house rules.

You are an innate learner. Over this past year, we’ve been doing “homeschool preschool”, and you relish nearly every moment of it. You beg me to “do school” almost every day (we try to do it at least three times per week), and you are excellent at copying letters and telling me their phonetic sounds. I think you are actually ready to start learning to read, and I’m excited to help teach you and see you discover the literary world.

You love to give gifts and surprise people. Oftentimes, you’ll “write” notes to each of us, tape them closed, and hide them so we can find them later. Anytime we have a special treat for Daddy or made something especially neat in preschool, you excitedly tell him to close his eyes and run toward him with whatever the object is. Of course, you find immense joy in receiving surprises yourself.

You are a helper. You’ll help Daddy with just about anything he asks of you, and you especially enjoy helping me make everyone’s lunches or with baking.

Music is one of your very favorite things. You love singing time in Primary at church, and you frequently pretend to be your music teacher. You love doing family home evening just so we can sing songs together.

You love to cut, glue, paint and create art.

You love to play games. Candy Land, Trouble, Connect Four, and a modified version of Blokus are your favorites.

You are silly, sweet, and shy. Many people tell me that they didn’t even realize you can talk because you are very quiet (and well-behaved) when we’re out in public.

Kitty (or “Meowy”, as you call him most of the time), is still your very favorite. He had to have a few “stitches” and be restuffed a few months ago, and I think now that he’s more “fluffle-y” (as you say), you love him more than ever. You are also still obsessed with your purple cat blankie.

Believe it or not, you still take a nap every afternoon. I’m sure that some of the time is spent playing quietly in your room, but usually, I can expect about 2.5 hours of near silence each day.

These past few months have been some of the most exciting for you as you’ve watched my belly grow and anticipated the arrival of your baby sister. These days, she is almost all you can talk about. Through my morning sickness and other ailments, you were always there, checking on me, tucking me in with blankets, snuggling me, and just making sure that I was okay. You tell me that you want to be a mommy yourself someday, and I know that you will fill that role perfectly.

Kaya, I love you more than I can say. There are probably a million more things I could write about you, but I’ve tried to capture the biggest parts of your personality so that we will always remember what you were like at this age. Time is going by so quickly, and honestly, I wish I could slow down these days so we could have more of them, just as we both are right now.

Love, Mommy