love this girl

As we approach three years with Deals in our lives we are scrambling to hold onto all of the amazing moments, both significant and small, as she continues to grow into an even more interesting and beautiful person.  One of the best parts of having a partner in parenting is having someone to turn to each night that wants to go over the funny things she said, the sweet things she did, and to just swoon over how cute she is (another perk of said partner is when he removes all of the toys and replaces them with candles and relaxing music when drawing me a bath).  I'm going to try to make more of an effort to capture these moments, not just in pictures, but with text, too.  The purpose of this blog to is to keep all of our family feeling close, despite the distances.  And if it entices the readers to come visit more often, that's even better!

We want to remember how she asks what our favorite part of the day was when we eat dinner, and how she answers our question of what she's grateful for by answering "Mommy," "Daddy," or sometimes "pizza."  We spy on her when she's playing independently and laugh at her imaginative play where her dolls and animals have made-up names like "Ferna," "Sosana," and "Dungo."  (We're continually reminded that she thinks often of her long-distance relatives.  As I write this, she is playing with her tea set along with a ladybug she is calling "Grandpa Steve.") We smile when she performs dramatic ballets (sometimes in her tutu) at home and in music class.  We're proud to witness her early scribbles turning into circles, and then faces and animals, and we're excited for what she'll draw next.  It's no surprise that she loves books- we go to up to three storytimes a week, read daily together, and she happily looks through stacks of books on her own.  We love how much she cares for her family and friends and feels such a strong connection to her world and the people in it.  She often talks about her grandparents, cousins, and friends at bedtime.  When she gives us hugs and kisses, holds our hands, cuddles, and tells us she loves us throughout the day, we melt.  

We love how much she sings!  She sings with us, she sings to us, and she sings to herself.  Sometimes her songs are completely made-up; other times she makes up her own words to songs she knows.  At bedtime she requests certain songs, and sometimes they only exist in her mind.  So, when she asks for me to sing about nonsense words she strings together, I oblige, leaving us both in giggles.  Last night, she leapt up from under her covers while I was singing her good-night and danced a waltz with her teddy bear.  Did I mention how much I love this girl?  

  We love this silly, inquisitive, headstrong, caring, smart, gorgeous girl!