Dear Hadley,
Earlier this month you turned thirty-five months old. You are such a sweet little ball of energy that it is so much fun to be around you. I am so happy that I get to keep you at home for another year before I have to share you with the educational system!

Not that we don’t keep busy! You recently started gymnastics class and you absolutely love it! You are able to log roll, somersault, tip-toe across the balance beam, flip on the bars and swing on the rings and somehow still have energy to spare! It’s been great having a specific (and safe!) place for you to get all of your wiggles out but I kind of worry that allowing you to perfect your abilities will just encourage you to want to do it more…and I do not need you trying to balance beam across the back of the couch!


You have also started taking a lot more interest in school. Since Ana is back into the swing of things, homework is a daily activity in our house and you do NOT want to be left out. When Ana sets up at the table, you settle in right beside her to work on your letters or just practice drawing. You have been particularly focused on filling in your pictures and trying to stay inside the lines when you color.


When homework time is over, you and Ana like to play games on any number of our electronic devices. You are partial to the iPad or iPhones, since the mouse is still hard for you to navigate on your own, but you don’t mind snuggling up next to Ana when she is on the laptop so you can play games with her.

But your absolute favorite thing right now is puzzles. You are obsessed! We only had a couple different puzzles and I quickly tired of doing the same ones over and over so we made a trip to the dollar store and stocked up on a variety of characters, shapes, and difficulties to end the monotony. (I actually really enjoy puzzles, but there is only so many times you can do the same puzzle before it makes you go crazy.) When we got home you quickly picked a puzzle and wanted me to help you put it together. I had to start dinner and told you once I got it in the oven I would be happy to help you out. When I finally came over to help, you had completed the entire thing. By yourself. And it was your first time doing a puzzle without straight edges. I was beyond impressed. And in the picture below, you can tell that you were pretty proud of yourself too.

You are still something of a hoarder. Anytime you have something, you need to have the complete set and carry them all around together. It can be quite cute, watching you scurrying around with a pile of tiny stuffed animals like a little mother hen with her chicks. But it can also be quite annoying when I’m trying to buckle you into your carseat and I can hardly find you underneath your “entourage.”


Part of being a little sister, is getting to tagalong to all of her events and activities. You became quite a pro at being a “sideline sister” this soccer season. You like to cheer on the girls, but you are also happy to play a game on your phone or run around with the other little siblings in the field.

You have fully reached that phase where everything is better if it’s pink, purple, or covered in princesses. History has proven that this won’t last forever, so I am currently embracing all things girly and foofy and we are just going to roll with it. You insist upon only wearing dresses? Fabulous, toss some leggings underneath and we are good to go. You only want to drink from the pink or purple Camelbak? Fine with me. We have three to pick from. You will only watch a movie if there are girls in it? Easy peasy. We may be hard pressed to find any shows with an all male cast. I have been through this all before and you haven’t been able to throw anything at me that I can’t handle.


This age can be tricky. You are stuck in this spot where you and I both have a hard time deciding if you are big or little. If you don’t want to wear underwear/pull-ups, you tell me you are too little. But then in practically in the same breath you say you are too big too wear a bib (when there stops being food in the catcher portion of your bib THEN you will be big enough). I have a hard time with it too. I don’t ever want to rush you into anything before you are ready, but I also don’t want to hold you back either. I figure my job is to present you with the options and when you are ready, we can conquer it at that time. If you want to grow up, be a big kid, and assert your independence, that is fine with me. But if you want to be small, curl up on my lap, and just snuggle, just know that I will never stop you.

All my love,
Mama