happy birthday sweet maria ann

(date to read: April 21, 2011. Aggie Muster)

to my sweet little girl of 4

::You are a lover of the outdoors. When outside you need no toys, your imagination simply takes over - from cat hospitals (made of a pile of tree branches) to rolly polly town to castle (that you enter by crawling under your slide).

::And actually, your imagination is alive and well inside and outside. You're always creating little 'worlds' in your room during nap time. Blocks become fences, books and/or shoes become barns, beads get turned into people, puzzle pieces become your animals... These days you're often writing me notes (fabulous scribbles) from Audrey or Mookie about the things they need - castles, M&M's and marsh mellows for their castle...

::Oh yeah, and your nap, has long since been a thing of the past. It must be that over active imagination. You now have "quiet time".... which sometimes is quite and sometimes is not. You do still take the occasional nap... and you usually wake up a grump. So I just assume you day dream!

::You also love to come up with little songs, usually when we're in the car. I turn down the radio, and you can sing for a full 20 minute ride home from post... and are still be going strong when we walk inside! Your songs are pure jibberish. I love them. Generally involving Audrey and Mookie, generally telling about some completely mundane part of our day, which reminds you of something else... "Audrey and Moooookie were outsiiiiide. We were swiiiinging, well, Mookie was laaaaying down and then Audrey baaarrrrked, and there's a greeeen sign..." :-)

::Dada calls you artsy-fartsy Maria. Because you are. Very artsy. You spend a good portion of your day at your art table working on your 'projects'. This generally means cutting up paper/fabric/plastic bag/left over screen from the porch into tiny tiny pieces, then glueing them onto something else. That's your favorite form of 'art' these days. But you love to paint, stamp, color, marker, glitter - you name it, you love it. Oh yes, and tape. You're always demanding just one more piece of tape!

::You are beautiful.

::The best compliment I've ever received about you came from a friend here at Ft Hood. When I picked you up from playing, she commented on how much peace you brought to her home. :-)

::Audrey and Mookie are your best friends. If we go somewhere without them, you're constantly asking about them. Even when you were a wee tot (and still today), I can convince you to leave somewhere (when you don't want to) by telling you that Audrey and Mookie are waiting for us. ;-)

::You are shy. Although not near as painfully so as a year ago. You have to observe a situation before entering it. But then, you can totally let go and have a great time with no regard for Mommy. It makes me smile - this new little phase that we're entering.

::You love dinosaurs, Curious George, Clifford, Hello Kitty, band-aids, vanilla shakes from Sonic, ketchup packets from the freezer, cinnamon toast crunch, lime and vanilla yogart, your green scissors, trips to the baseball game park, canoeing/kayaking - really anything to do with water, Lolla & Martha (Mar-fa), sleeping in your 'bear bag', swinging, helping in the kitchen...

::You are a loving and considerate big sister - feeding Camille cheerios from your bowl, sitting her up to play row-row-row-your-boat, fetching her juke, pushing her in her swing.

::I am always in awe of you my sweet silly goose. :-)