My darling sweets, you're another year older and another year wiser. This was a big year full of big changes. You started kindergarten and were immediately challenged to be your own person. You did not back down from who you are and very directly dealt with the peers that challenged you. Your peers' doubt about who you are never even went past the first day of school. I admire that about you, as I am someone who was more concerned about the opinion of others for much too long...and especially at your age.
You are having a good year at school. You have tons of friends and lots of fun. You get a wee bit distracted and lost in your own world occasionally, but really, who am I kidding? That is going as expected. You may have gotten that tendency from yours truly. Right now you're not getting too distracted to get along okay with your teacher and your fellow students, but you might want to think about how to better notice what's going on around you. It will become an important skill as life goes on....speaking from experience.
This year you have done a bit more testing the limits in the parenting department. Interestingly, you try really hard to be stubborn, but it usually ends up that you don't give up the fight, but get distracted by something and forget the fight instead. On a recent morning Daddy and I told you if you didn't get dressed then you would wear your pajamas to school that day. The pajamas you were wearing just happened to be the clothes you had worn the day before, still on because of the attempted stubbornness from the bedtime battle from the night before. So, because you just don't get too worried about things like that, Daddy and I lost that battle with you. While our point was that if you don't get dressed in the time allotted in a morning, you will run out of time and have to wear something embarrassing to school. However, you didn't care one little bit. Not one. You wore yesterday's outfit to school with no problem and without lick of shame or embarrassment. Not that we were shaming you.....but girl, you just didn't care. Point: Julianna.
You continue to be completely happy and laidback about most things. You love to sing and play and make people laugh. You love to chat to yourself and write and play alone outside. You also continue to love to play with Lily or Drew....but never Lily AND Drew. I get that....the dynamic isn't an easy one when you three get together sometimes. You often are a willing student in "Lily's School on Life, Handwriting, and Math" and you are also usually a willing participant to "Drew's School of Basketball, Football, and Wrestling" as long as the injuries stay to a minimum. That said, you were grateful Drew got a tackle dummy for Christmas so that you didn't have to be tackled by him so much anymore. (I'm working on stopping his habit of injuring you. Promise.)
What can I say, sweet one? You are just so fun to have around, so easy to be with. We are so grateful that you are a member of this family. You bring a much needed shot of joy to our family unit and we love you very much. Please keep on keepin' on when it comes to being yourself. Dad and I will keep cheering you on and supporting you from our front row seat. We love the view from here. Thanks for everything. I love you.
Much love,
Mommy
