3.3

To my Greta...at three years and three months.

You had been telling everyone for weeks that you were going to be a bumblebee for Halloween. We planned our costumes around yours. When the day came to put on your costume, you refused. So, I asked if you would rather be a butterfly. And so, for your very first time trick-or-treating, you went as a butterfly and you loved it.

You have insisted on sleeping in bed with us for I don't know how long. If you fall asleep in our bed and we try to move you to your own bed, you scream at the top of your lungs. It's been a struggle. Sleep. For us. For you. We don't even argue about it anymore because I think we're just too tired...and because you say things like, "It makes me so happy to sweep in your bed, Mama." You sly little fox, you.

I laid down next to you last night and you snuggled your head next to mine and I began to cry...because I imagined you as a baby...which wasn't all that long ago...just looking at that little sweet, sleeping face of yours and I became so overwhelmed at how quickly you have grown. Time...what a thief. A reminder to live life more in the moment...and to find joy in the everyday. Because YOU are a joy.

You introduce yourself to strangers with your fingers in your mouth as you say, "Hi! I'm Greya."

You always want to help. You are the first to push your sister down, but also the first to tell a person you've just met, "This is my sister, Estella, and I love her." You sing loud and proud. You love to make your mean face. You love choo choo trains and twirly dresses and going to the park and your daddy.