A letter to my daughter on her third birthday

Dear Ava,

It seems like it was just yesterday that you were just a little baby that I carried in my arms and now you are three!  You are so independent; it amazes me how much you really can do without my help as you claim you can do everything by yourself.

Your culinary skills are growing both in your play kitchen and the real kitchen.  You tie on your own apron like a master chef and you work in your little red kitchen to put together plates of wooden toy delicacies that you serve to our guests. Even at three, you know that presentation is everything. Your little green stool is one of your most prized positions as it gives you freedom to access the things that are out of your reach.  While I am cooking, you pull up that little stool to help me with the food preparation. You love to taste all of the colorful veggies as it gets chopped up, even when it has yet to be cooked (your impatience you get from your daddy).  Your table settings are always perfect and I love to watch how you maneuver the forks and the spoons until they are in just the perfect place (your perfectionism you get from me). As you grow older, I look forward to cooking side by side and teaching you the family recipes that my mom and grandmother taught me.

You have such a great sense of adventure and I am always amazed at what a great little traveler you are, even when you are strapped in a seat for hours or when we catch flights that leave at midnight, with layovers that have us sleeping in airports.  This year during your travels you made friends with the local island children on a small, rustic island in Indonesia.  You saw blue whales, peacocks and leopards in Sri Lanka.  You even held tiny baby sea turtles in your little hand. You basked on the beaches of Danang and admired the lantern filled streets of Hoi An. This summer’s travel found us traveling across the great South West; we drove from Southern California to Oregon, Denver, Santa Fe and back to spend some time with our family.  You even caught your first concert at the famous Red Rocks of Colorado.  You zoomed around Bangkok in a Tuk Tuk, where you enjoyed plying the streets for yummy eats. One of your favorite places to visit this year was Disneyland, where you met Tinkerbell, Winnie the Poo and Mini Mouse. After all of these travels you are always happy to return to your home in Saigon.

You love smelling the flowers and picking them to wear in your hair or to give to your friends. Cupcakes are a favorite treat and you love to first lick off the frosting and then save the cake for later.    You are full of giggles and involuntary songs, and you say very funny things and ask very strange, yet wonderful questions. You love fairies and butterflies and you are determined to fly, but you often remind us that “I need some pixie dust to fly.”

Your style has changed in the past year.  Before summer your style was eclectic and colorful, with your curls pulled back with a pair of goggles and layers of colorful clothes were paired with your wings. Now you only want to wear pretty dresses that twirl when you dance and the outfit is only complete with matching accessories and movie star sunglasses. Even I have become one of your accessories as you tell me what dress I should wear so that we can match.

I am loving that you are wild, spunky, a talker, and all self-sufficient. Luckily for me though, you still like to be carried up the stairs, cuddled while read to and tucked into bed like a little burrito. You still request the goodnight lullabies to sing you to sleep and the light to stay on to scare the monsters away. 

To me you are a soft cool rain on a hot Saigon day. You make me laugh with the funny things that you have to say. You are that warm feeling I get, when I nuzzle your neck and tuck you in at night. You are the light of my life, my darling daughter Ava. Have a wonderful third birthday my baby girl.

Your loving mommy

December 5, 2012