Abigail ballerina

When you were just a newborn, your dad would talk about you taking your first hockey lesson, and I told him I couldn't wait for you to take dance. He insisted you wouldn't take dance. It was going to be all about hockey.

Then one day he went to get us some coffee at Tim Hortons came home and said to me "okay, I guess she can take ballet." Turns out there was a little girl at Tim Hortons, probably about the same age then that you are right now, dressed up for her dance class, doing twirls for her daddy as they waited in line. Good thing he got on board early. You didn't give us much of a choice.

You have always loved dance. Watching it on TV, dressing up in a tutu, twirling around the living room, you love dance. In fact, the best way to guarantee we get out of the house is with the promise of a tutu, which you promptly put on, and then do a little pirouette.

We have wanted to have you enrolled in dance as soon as possible, but there aren't any city programs that will take a 2.5 year old. Thankfully, one of the best dance schools in the city is located just up the street from us.

You started last week. You were all dressed up in your pink tights, pink leotard, pink ballet shoes, hair pulled tightly back, and raring to go. But the class was an epic failure. Your teachers, Miss Nicole and Miss Stephanie, tried so hard to make you feel comfortable but all of the kids had already taken at least one class and didn't seem fazed. You cried the whole time, and looked at me through the window crying "mommy!" You broke my heart. I thought you'd LOVE dance class!

It's not that you didn't want to dance. It's just that it was a new experience for you and maybe we didn't prepare you enough for the fact you'd be in there by yourself with all new people.

We could have called it quits. We could have said you were too young and not ready. We could have said we gave it one shot, it failed, we're done. But we didn't. Because we know it's good for you. And we know you'll love it. We want you to try new things and push yourself and go out of your comfort zone to discover the world and things that maybe, if left to your own devices, you otherwise wouldn't. 

Your dad and I talked and decided to give it another few weeks. If you really hated it then we wouldn't force it.

But today, it was a whole new world. Your daddy took you and you went right in and participated in and loved the whole class. He called to tell me and I got so excited for you. You came home in such a great mood. You showed me the new moves you learned in class. You were so happy.

I think it speaks volumes about you, that you'll go back to something that didn't go well the first time, and not only try it again, but tackle it and master it. I'm so proud of you and excited for you that you gave it a chance. And that you were able to, so quickly, adjust to something new and seemingly daunting. 

I'm so happy that your dad and I gave you the chance to try something new and out of your comfort zone, and I'm glad that we gave you the credit you so obviously deserved. You love dance. And now you love dance class. 

Twirl on Abigail.

My heart

My darling daughter.

The light of my life.

My child.

My first born.

My sun and my moon and my stars.

My mini me.

My inspiration.

My little princess.

My angel.

My little girl.

If I could bottle your giggles, I would. If I could package your smile, I would. If I could freeze your sense of humour, your unabashed joie de vive, and ability to find glee in the simplest things, I would.

You are vocal. You were born with a voice. 

You are passionate. You were born with passion. 

You wear your heart on your sleeve.

You voice your frustration and your love, your happiness and anger, your joy and your sadness, so that everyone around you knows exactly how you feel and what you think. It makes it hard not to feel your pains and revel in your joys. It makes it hard not to want to.

Your ear to ear smile has become a bit less pudgy than when you were just a wee baby, but the twinkle in your eyes and the joy behind it has only grown as you have. Watching you fall in love with the world around you makes me fall in love with you more and more each day. 

Just when I think my heart can't possibly become more full, you run across the room and into my arms screaming mommy, or stroke my hair and say pretty, or ask for one more hug and a kiss before bed, or thank me for a simple favour, or smile when you've gone down a new slide or climbed a new jungle gym, or say something silly or make a funny face, or shove your face into a soft serve ice cream cone. You make it impossible not to smile each and every day. 

You are on the only person on this planet who can make me laugh through anger. 

You are growing up right before my very eyes. Your baby face has faded away into the face of a beautiful and confident little girl. Time has sped up. I want it to slow down. I love watching you grow but want you to say little, just for a little while longer. I refuse to say you're no longer my baby and are now my little girl. You are both. You always will be. 

You will grow, and you will change. You will become more of who you already are and yet, also someone who you aren't yet. But you are always going to be Abigail.

You are my heart. You are my Abby.

It's all in the marketing

You are two. And as such, it's not always easy to get you to do stuff. In fact, pretty much everything we want you to do is a challenge. Your grasp of the word 'no' is impressive.  So, your dad and I have had to be creative with the way we trick you into doing what we want you to do or eat. 

Getting you to take your daily milk intake is a challenge. But it's become much easier since I started lacing your milk with Yop, aka 'milkshake.' You LOVE your milkshakes.

All things frozen are ice cream. All fruit-freezies? Ice cream. FroYo? Ice cream.

You were not the hugest fan of me putting Vasaline on you during a diaper change. But, for some reason, putting 'goop' on you was a-okay. So, goop it was!

You love wearing dresses. As nights have gotten more difficult when it comes to getting you into your PJs, buying 'night dresses' has helped speed up the process.

And night time undies. Oh, the night time undies. Once you were just a little bit potty trained, diapers became the devil. Overnight that's a bit of an issue, so you need to wear SOMETHING. Diapers you'd take off easily. So we got you Pull Ups, or 'night time underwear'. You still fuss and say 'too big' whenever they go on, but for some reason, your 'night time undies' are less offensive to your sensibilities. 

Some might call it tricking. I say it's creative genius. It works! It's not my fault you're a sucker for marketing. Well, maybe it is. But I'm okay with that.

Daddy's little girl

When I was pregnant with you, we didn't know whether you were going to be a boy or a girl. I always joked with your dad that, if we had a girl, she'd have him wrapped around her finger. He denied it. But I knew. 

When you were born and they said "it's a girl" your daddy was forever changed.

 

You look just like me, but Abigail, you are your daddy's girl. You love trying new things, taking on the world, being challenged, being daring, and showing everyone how much they are loved. You are tough, and stubborn, and cuddly and adventurous. You are your father's daughter, through and through.  And for some kids, the more like their parents they are, the more they butt heads. But you and your daddy are two peas in a pod. 

Dads and their daughters are a special thing. You expect a dad to look forward to watching the hockey game with his little boy and taking him on his first camping weekend. You expect him to be excited to watch his a first baseball game, and to tell you to shake off a bad fall. But your dad already took you on your first camping weekend, hugs you after your falls and helps you back up again, and he can't wait to see you in your ballet shoes and leotard. Your dad is a sucker for you in the sweetest possible way. You are his child, not just his little girl. 

You love playing music, pounding on the piano keys or banging on a drum, and there's no doubt that it's because your daddy has been playing music for you since you were just a baby. Your love for music is all  because of the love for it your daddy instilled in you. 

It is hard not to see the effect your daddy's love for you has on who you are and how you love. You are tough as nails like your daddy, and, like him, also loving and sweet and kind and respectful. I see in you so much of who your father is that I am always grateful that I picked him and he picked me to share our lives and raise our children.

You love your daddy. Your face and eyes light up for him more than anyone and no one can get the gleeful giggles out of you that he can. You are a very lucky little lady to have the daddy you do.

Still getting the hang of English

I love how you are learning your new words, and how you interpret the words you hear as you attempt to repeat them to us. Some mispronunciations are so cute we haven't gone out of our way to correct you. 

You're two and a half so it is to be expected, but I love hearing your voice and listening to you speak.

You're still learning the words for all foods you enjoy, and two of your favourite post-dinner snacks are ornages (oranges) and blueblerries. Daddy and I have tried numerous times to help you say orange. Now we call them ornages too. Blueblerry just sounds too cute to try to fix.

You have no problem saying Nan and Pop, and Uncle Jon and Aunt Jes. But the other side of the family is a bit more of a challenge. Bubbie was Dubbie, and now she's Boodie. Uncle David is Uncle Dadid and Auntie Stephanie is Auntie Tetanee. And by far the cutest mispronunciation is cousin Noa, who you lovingly call cousin Nono. We call her Nono now too.

Two of your other funny mispronounced words are bathing suit, which you call your baby soup, and whenever you use the potty, you need to have your tep too, aka your step stool. 

I'm sure there are lots more I just can't think of right no but I love each and every one of the cute things you say.

Oh, and one more cute thing? You always want to hold your little brother, which is so very sweet. You always say to me and your daddy "I want to hold it!" Makes me giggle.

I suppose this wouldn't be complete without me telling you what your very first full sentence was. It wasn't even that long ago. Maybe a month and a half ago now. You asked to call your Uncle Dadid. He got on the phone and I told you to tell him you had gone pee on the potty.

"Hi Uncle Dadid! I went pee pee potty! I got chocolate! I get Ice cream?" We all got a good laugh out of that one. You didn't get ice cream, but you did get lots of cuddles for the cute question :).

I love you Stinky Face

Your dad and I pile into your room every night to read you a book before bed. You usually pick your dad to read and me to sit at the foot of your bed to listen to the story. We always let you pick your book, between a few options. It's one of my favourite times of day. Your brother is down for the night in his crib, the house is otherwise quiet, and you're cuddled up beside your daddy in bed as we all listen to him read the night's story.

There are other books that have made their way through your roster. Your daddy has a rule. A book gets three shots at being picked, before it gets retired. Sometimes you pick one book one night, and one book the next. But sometimes you pick the same book, night after night, for a week. I always find it funny to see which books you settle on.

Goodnight Moon, the consummate children's book, has never been a favourite of yours.  The books that have been long-term favourites, though, were picked over and over, and even when they found their way kicked from the roster, they somehow managed to squeeze back in there when you've seen them sitting on your bedside table.

Some of your recent favourites include Huggle Buggle Bear, a book purchased for you by our good friends Mark and Susan, I love you Stinky Face, a book given to you by your Auntie Stephanie, Uncle David and Cousin Noa, Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball, and, your current favourite, Everyone Poops. Yup, Everyone Poops. Not only do you pick that book every night, you also insist your daddy read it to you, over and over and over again. 

Reading time is one of my favourite times of day with you and one I really cherish. I love the quiet time that you, your daddy and I share in your room every night before you go to sleep.