LifeShadows Photography

My dearest Peep,

Yes, you still insist that everyone call you, ‘Peep’.  Actually, it has just become your name now.  No one even questions it.  It’s fun for me to imagine you as a teenager and your high school friends calling you Peep.  I no longer feel sad that you have changed your name.  I’ve embraced that you naming yourself is part of who you are.  It’s a symbol of your strength and individuality.  I love that I can see your power even at such a young age and truly hope you never lose it.

You are such a unique little girl–incredibly self-aware, confident and empowered.  I love your enthusiasm for being different and how you gravitate towards what will bring you the most happiness at the moment, not what is popular.  If your usual friends are playing a game that you don’t particularly find fun, you will happily go play a different game with people that you don’t even know.  If your friends say that pink is the best color on earth, you will say, “That’s great that you all like pink, but I love orange because it is the color of a penguin’s beak.”  Currently, you are working on compromising a little bit in order to nurture your friendships.  During a play date, you are learning that sometimes you might have to play something you don’t find quite as fun in order to spend time with that friend, but in general, people are usually drawn to you and your ideas.  Your self-confidence, positive attitude and spunk makes people happy.  It seems to bring you great joy to make people laugh, and you are always going for that laugh with silly jokes, shocking clothes or just plain goofing around.

Thatcher has really latched on to you for this very reason.  You are so good at getting on his level to create fun for him.  The two of you can get so silly and hyper that we have often have to settle you down a bit (for your safety), but I cherish the sound of you guys laughing and giggling.  I need to record it because I know that you won’t play like this forever.  You still love to make believe.  Stuffed animals are often your pets and friends in the elaborate stories you create with friends or even by yourself.  You will even adapt a make-believe game to include Thatcher and accommodate his toddler behaviors.

Another thing I love about you is your strong sense of logic and practicality.  You seem to be very math-minded.  You can compute complicated mathematical problems in your head with ease and have started to really identify with having that strength.  You LOVE the game of chess.  The strategic planning comes so naturally to you!  At the end of last year, you joined the chess club with a bunch of older kids (mostly boys) and WON!  You amaze me.  You are starting to read with more confidence this year.  You are not very motivated to read yet.  Sometimes, I think that you have more of a psychological issue with reading.  Your desire to carve your own niche in the world is so strong that you tend to reject any of the qualities or strengths that you see already being “taken” by Breckin.  I think we just need to find you your own, unique types of books.  Books that YOU love instead of the books that Breckin has outgrown.  Last night we started reading Junie B Jones together and you just didn’t seem to find it as funny as Breckin did when she was younger.  Perhaps we need to try on some different types of books to see if we can find your reading passion.

I feel so blessed to have you as a daughter, and I know that I will continue to learn and grow as an adult by watching you.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl,

Mama