Exciting Accomplishments

To all of my children,

The month of May has been a productive one for our family! All three of you have done interesting, exciting, creative things and I am so proud of it all.

Mercedes – at the beginning of May you performed in your school’s performance of Go Fish, an amusing musical about acceptance and inclusivity and being yourself. We loved it. Your father worked diligently to create a crab costume for you while I was away in China for work, and you were so proud of his efforts. You were not shy on stage at all, and were so excited to participate with your friends. It was a pleasure to watch you leave your comfort zone and shine.

Holden – also at the beginning of May, you had your Welcome to Kindergarten orientation session. Much like your big sisters before you, you were a little hesitant, a little shy (at least you all come by it honestly), but warmed up by the end in order to have a blast and get sufficiently excited about your upcoming venture into ‘big boy school.’Of course, the highlight for you was getting to ride a school bus, which you won’t actually be doing next year, or any year, but I am glad that it got you excited about the adventures to come. You still seem SO little to me, but of course, you are not even three and a half yet, and will therefore be THE youngest kid in your class (likely forever!) – but I know you will do just fine. You’ve thrived in daycare, and you have the beauty of having the best examples in your older sisters. I am not sure who will cry more on your first day of school, you or your Mama.

Lexi –This past weekend was your dance recital, which was a wonderful, highly endearing culmination of nine months of hard work practicing your dance routine. I have been the one taking you to almost all of your dance classes (including your dress rehearsal on stage in full costume, on Friday night), so I had seen the routine MANY times. But nothing compares to seeing the real thing, with your make-up and your hair, and the stage lights. I will admit it, I cried. To see you up there, so small and sweet and sure of yourself and your dance steps, concentrating and watching the teacher’s assistant, and best of all smiling, was an amazing experience for me. It brought back so many memories of me on stage during my own dance recitals many years ago. I really truly loved dancing (ok, I still do!), and the buzz of energy that surrounds recital day is a powerful thing to be a part of. I really hope that you continue with dance, because you seem to really enjoy it, and you have a natural rhythm that not everyone has. But of course, what I want for you most of all is to be happy – and if that means not doing dance, I will be okay with that too J No matter what, I will always treasure the memory of watching you shining on stage for those two minutes on Sunday – I hope you manage to also.

To all three of you – I am so proud that as you grow older, more and more of this fun stuff gets to happen. When you are babies, it’s all about milestone moments – some big (Walking! Talking! Potty training!) and some small (Holding up your own head! Sitting up! Sleeping a few hours straight!). But as you grow, the moments that mark our memories seem to grow too. And it is a joy to witness them.

Love,

Mama