Growing up

Dear Inara,

Oh my! You are growing up so fast.  I love how smart you are and how you are so inquisitive you are.  You have definitely reached the "why?" stage and are constantly asking questions. Sometimes it does get frustrating, but mostly it is super fun to teach you. Plus some of your questions are actually really deep and contemplative.  When you disobey you sometimes ask "Why do I disobey?". It is such a wonderful opportunity to teach you about your sin and most importantly about how wonderful Christ is. I pray you never stop asking questions. That you continue to want to grow in knowledge and it would lead to a broken heart as you can grieve over you sin and then rejoice at the cross.

Every once in a while, I realize you are not my little baby.  But honestly because you are so small, I forget how big you really are, and you will always be my baby no matter how big you are.  I know one day you will read that sentence and roll your eyes, but then Lord willing, you will have kiddos of your own and then finally understand the love we have for you.

You want to snuggle more than you use to and we don't mind one bit!  You are super fun and seriously so smart. We just started a swim class with you and you really love it. You get so sad when we leave even though some parts of the class kind of scare you (like going underwater and floating on your back).  You continue to be super friendly and outgoing and whenever we are out in public you are ALWAYS asking people their names.  I watch other people watch you, and you seriously bring a smile to strangers faces.  Oh, and you ALWAYS sing...always. You sing what you are doing, are constantly humming "Ariel's song", and love to listen to music.  Its a really fun quality you have :)

Inara, I love you so much. One day you might understand that love. But until then...I'll soak up all the kisses and hugs I can :)