A Letter To My 4-Year-Old Daughter

Dear Emery,
Where does the time go? It literally feels like yesterday, I would hold you in my arms, giving you sweet kisses all over, and making sure you were always happy. Oh wait, that was yesterday… literally.

Baby girl, it truly feels like I blinked once and before I knew it, you turned four.

This is one day I look forward to every year. It’s the day I get to spoil the heck out of you, buy you everything you want and mommy can’t get mad at all the new stuff I buy because it’s YOUR BIRTHDAY!

Everyone warned me about the terrible two’s or terrible three’s. Maybe I’m biased but it’s been the terrific three’s.

The last 365 days have been beyond special, for not just me, but you as well. It’s been about love and learning.

You’ve spent the last year getting to build deeper relationships with so many of your extended family members. The love you have for all your grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles has been a joy to see. The way your eyes light up when we mention you will be spending time with any of them is possibly the most heartwarming thing ever.

You continue to be a sponge and soak everything in. There’s an adage, “You learn something new every day.” For you, it’s probably, “You learn something new every hour.”

This is just a small glimpse of what you’ve learned:

• Your vocabulary has quadrupled. Having real conversations has been the biggest game changer. And half the things that come out of your mouth make your mom and dad laugh all the time. You’re the funniest person in the house, slightly surpassing daddy.
• We moved houses in the past year and you’ve learned how to navigate from your bedroom to our bedroom. This is something we will have to work on.
• You’ve learned exactly what you want and when you want it. Most of the time, you want it immediately. I blame that on Amazon.
• Last winter, you started gymnastics. It’s been a struggle during many practices. Lots of tears were shed, numerous annoyed moments from mom and dad, but you continue to go back, learn new things and persevere.
• You learned about this pop culture sensation called Frozen. It’s a movie about two girls who happen to be princesses. Because of this, you learned nearly every word to the song Let It Go and it’s something we’ve listened to possibly 350 out of the 365 days of the year.
• Carnival, yard and skill games are something you’ve started to like, just like your daddy. We’ve taken many daddy/daughter dates to Chuck E. Cheese and you’re getting the hang of the games. There’s one game there where you take a hammer and hit this button. You have to hit it with the right finesse. And if you do, you get a 100 tickets. On your very first time, you got 100 tickets! With my reaction, you would have thought you won the lottery.

So aside from learning, let’s talk the opposite end of the spectrum. You still dislike mascots and Santa Claus. You’re afraid of heights. Water on your face is a huge no/no. Bugs aren’t necessarily your thing, and neither is going to bed at a decent hour.

You love jumping on trampolines, being outside, in the water, singing, dancing, telling jokes, shopping for Disney nightgown dresses, staying in hotels, having songs sung to you and books read before nighttime, getting out of bed twenty times right when we put you to bed, hanging out in your sister’s room, and eating Chips Ahoy chewy cookies.

And nobody gives a better hug than you. Being the sweetest, loving kid in the world is your best talent.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t change. I love the good moments and bad moments. It all makes you, you.

Every day, I really do look in your eyes, and thank God for the gift of YOU. Being your father is something I’ll never take for granted and continually look forward to every morning. The amount of joy, happiness, and laughter you’ve brought into this world in your short four years is truly remarkable to me.

I truly believe you’re meant for big things in your life. Between your bubbly infection personality to your charm, you will go far in this life.

And how can I forget about the pizza pictures? This was easily your best year in taking one.

Months 1-12

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year four will be a sentimental one for all of us. I don’t think you realize what’s in store. In a few months, you’ll be leaving your daycare friends and the best daycare folks ever to start school. It makes me teary-eyed thinking about it. Why am I so emotional? I don’t even know, maybe it’s because those kids and Miss Bre and Miss Julie have been like an extension of family for you.

There’s really so much more I could say and type. I could literally turn this into a novel. But I’ll end this on a short note.

Emery… you are the best thing to happen in my life. You’ll always be daddy’s baby girl, my princess, my boo-boo, my world. Don’t ever forget that.

Love,
Your #1 Fan

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