Stop Growing Up!

(It's that time of year! My annual letter to my daughter on her birthday...)

Happy 5th birthday Miss Bean! Or as you call yourself, “Sunshine Sparkles!” followed with hands in the air.
Where has the time gone? How can you be 5 already when it seems as if you were just born a year or two ago?


Just a few things you did this past year that I’m going to remember forever:

• Telling your preschool friends and random strangers that I got into a fight with a chicken, that’s how I got chicken pox.
• Announcing to the crowd at preschool graduation that you don’t want to be a ballerina when you grow up because you want to be a dolphin instead.
• Your imaginary sisters Sauna and Nana now live at Disney World and we MUST go visit them every weekend because it's their birthday again.
• On the way home from preschool telling me you got married to Marcus at school because he can breakdance. And then me explaining for an hour why you can’t date until your married.
• Learning about Baseball at preschool and then begging to go to a game really bad. When we had gone you said, “Daddy, this is really boring, why don’t they do anything!” Yes, you are truly my daughter.

Your favorite things at this moment:

• Everything about your baby brother, especially his farts which seems to go on forever.
• Going to the movie theater to watch 3D movies and then half-way through asking me to put in a different DVD.
  
• Tea Parties with your stuffed animals in your restaurant and then asking some animals to leave for misbehaving or bad manners.
• Excitement over starting Kindergarten in the Fall and meeting “even more” friends.
• Making up all sorts of crafts and art projects, and making up your own songs and lyrics.
• Ballet dancing to Disco. Preferably to the Bee-Gee’s.
• Playing Wii together and actually getting good at it.
• Eating at restaurants, especially Souplantation (still!)
• Swimming and spending a lot of time at the pool this summer. I suspect this is training to be a dolphin.
  

On the morning of your birthday I’m always going to remember the first thing you said to your mother and I while running into our room “when I was sleeping, I felt my body growing so I can be 5-years old!”
I’m going to miss the fun we had together at 4, but I’m looking forward to what new memories we’ll make together when your 5.

Love,
Daddy

So This Is What It Feels Like When Doves Cry…

(It’s that time of year again; my annual letter to my daughter on her birthday.)



Miss Bean (or as you now call yourself “Princess Sunshine Sparkles”),

Happy 3rd Birthday! I can’t believe how fast this past year has gone by. It amazes me how much you’ve changed in so little time; the transition from a baby to a beautiful, smart, and clever little girl with a strong personality still completely fascinates me.


A few things I’ve enjoyed this past year watching you grow:

• Drawing on the driveway with chalk together, making up funny roads, games, and monster characters.
• Hearing your stories about your imaginary friend “Captain Hippo."
  
• Playing Wii (Duck Hunt) together and yelling “Ah man!” right after I yell “Ah man!” among a few other unfortunate things your mom shouldn't know about.
  
• Helping me with small chores around the house such as loading the dishwasher, caring for the dog, and taking out the trash. I hope you still like doing chores next year.
• Paying the cashier for lunch at some restaurant with the 4 pennies you found on the ground while saying “it’s OK daddy, I pay for it with my money’s”
• Listening to you sing your interpretation of songs over, and over, and over again.
• Cooking in your play kitchen, making me guacamole soup and chocolate tea for breakfast.
• Driving by a KFC and you yelling out "Look Daddy! Yummy chicken place!!" (that would bring a tear to any colonel's eye...)
  

Your favorite things at this moment:

Dressing up as a princess, sparkle roll-on, Disneyland, watching movies on my iPhone, popcorn (or "crackcorn" as you call it), making “art”. DVD’s Enchanted, Tarzan, Cars, Incredibles, Lilo & Stitch, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Dumbo, and Rambo (just kidding! That’s one of my favorites.)

Putting you to bed tonight on the eve of your birthday made me realize how much I’m going to miss you at 2. But at the same time I’m really looking forward to what new adventures and memories we'll have together at 3.

Love,
Daddy

Mommy & Daddy Date Night Can Be Wicked

For some odd reason I’ve had that Spiderman theme song stuck in my head since Saturday. It’s REALLY starting to bother me.

(Spiderman, Spiderman…does whatever a spider can…)

I’m curious, so how many of you parents do “date nights”? You know, a real one where you get a sitter and run out the door for a few hours and go somewhere childfree that doesn't rhyme with Chuck E. Cheese.

In the 2 and half years since our daughter was born, the wife and I haven’t done a real "date night." I’m pretty sure Dr. Phil would call this behavior extremely unhealthy and then camp out in front of my house yelling through a bullhorn. But who cares, the guy is a quack. But now the wife and I are beginning to think this is a good idea to try at least once a month.
On Friday we went to see Wicked The Musical, which by the way was O.K. Not great like all the hype would have you believe, but overall entertaining. Without spoiling it, I thought the ending was borderline cheesy. Although, I must say the ‘Wicked Witch’ main girl did have an amazing voice; to be honest I wish she had sung more. I think that would have made it even better.

(...Spins a web, any size..hey there! There goes the Spiderman....)

Anyhow, when we got back home my daughter had the sitter write the wife and I a letter. This is what it said:

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

I hope you had fun tonight without me. Alexis and I had fun. I love you both very much, even though you left me.
I made art for you and left it on the refrigerator [sitter: in case you’re wondering, the tears made the markers smear.]

Your daughter,
Sunshine Sparkles
(My new name)
XOXOXO

P.S. Captain Hippo was playing in your closet.

(...Catches thieves, just like flies...Look out! Here comes the Spiderman.)
I hope he catches that criminal, Captain Hippo, soon…

To My Daughter On Her 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Miss Bean!

I just can't believe you're 2. Where did the time go...!?

It seems as if were yesterday watching you make your grand entrance into this world (I cut your cord and didn’t pass out), bringing you home for the first time (that nervous drive home took a lot longer than normal), and then staring at you in complete amazement wondering what adventures lay ahead and what kind of person you were going to be (watching you sleep was better than any TV show.)
Never would I have imagined the absolute joy of watching you grow, learn, walk, and talk. Most of all – the happiness and delight you bring to your mommy and I (your smile and laugh still make me melt...) I'm still in awe at how much that delicate baby I once held is gone, growing up fast, and getting a little more independent each day. Although, in my eyes, you’ll still be my little baby girl (even when you’re 30...)

Some of your favorite things:
Doodlebops, The Wiggles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Cinderella, Animals (especially monkeys), Wooden Puzzles, your Cheetah Girls 2 purse filled with aliens, trucks and princesses, Books, Play Kitchen & Cooking, Coloring & Drawing, the slide in the park, Dancing, Singing.

Things I'm going to miss most when you grow up:
Cooking me Sushi, Rice, and Edamame in your play kitchen, eating "crackcorn" (popcorn), putting your stuffed animals to bed, your stinky blanket that has magical powers, how something simple - like a bug or a flower - can be a celebrity in your eyes.

What you asked for your birthday:
A bike (I bought you that LikeABike knockoff that you need to grow into), Ice Cream, Strawberries, drive the MINI Cooper (go ask your mom...)