Dear Iris,
Thanks for the relatively painless delivery.
Thanks for being CHUBB-Y and healthy. It was so nice to have a chubby baby!!
And THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for saying 'Mama' first!
You were a delightful baby...a delight to watch grow.
Even as an infant you were full of fire and passion. I wrote of you in an early Christmas letter, that when you laughed, the sun poured over our house and clowns turned cartwheels in our yard, but when you were angry to prepare for a darkening of the sky, harsh winds and thunderstorms.
And you were a spunky toddler.
Iris, my love, you have given everyone in this house a whirlwind adventure. Your torrent of emotions, your highs and lows...we have grown fond of them. Others may think that sounds strange, but these aspects of you are lovely to us. We bask in your laughter as you make the very room smile. And often an outside observer may see four hovering loved ones cooing over you when you are deathly terrified. Your entire family works hard at distracting you from thunderstorms and protecting you from the greetings of strangers who want to talk to you. We know these are your deep fears. We love you and feel the depth of your emotions for you. We all leak salt water when you break your things.
You have made us all love sparkly things. We keep an eye out for them so we can see you smile or swoon.
Shoes too ;)
We despise airplanes and sonic booms in our great sympathy for you!
You have an unusual gift. Your brother and sister have hung at your beck and call since you were old enough to grunt.
Grunt # 1- they run to soothe you
Grunt #2- they run to turn on the tv
Grunt #3- they hoist you onto the rocking horse, push you over to the tv and rock you
At this point in my spying, I realize that you being spoiled or not being spoiled appears to be out of my hands.
Since your earliest sounds, you have been a genius at social engineering. You seem to be a leader. People like you. I often wonder, what will you do with this gift God has given you.
Of my children, you are the most like me. You are the family clown. Senseless and silly. I can depend on you when I am craving an adventure or some fun and no one else is willing. You are the first to dance with me when music comes on. When I reach for a hug, you somehow jump to my back, hang on and laugh hysterically. You yearn to be spun around and around and around WITHOUT end. You have begged to be tickled until WE had to cry 'mercy' because WE were worn out.
I will never forget the day you tried your BEST to convince me to leave everyone and everything else behind and take you to Disney World. You were pretty convincing ;) "They won't miss us THAT much. It won't cost too much just to take you and me. They won't be TOO mad at us."
Though, I can't allow you to keep doing it, I even find how you huff and stomp off adorable. If you learn to control that scowl...I may actually be disappointed. One day, maybe you'll realize, that so many of those times that I HAD to punish you or scold you, I was laughing inside. Or I had to turn my head and pause so you wouldn't see me laughing outside. I treasure you and adore you, I know God is working in you just as He is the rest of us. Watching your inward struggles to understand your own sin, watching you grow...is precious really, and I wouldn't have you any other way.
And you ARE growing. Don't think that just because we give you a hard time, that we don't see it. When your heart breaks, because you realize you were wrong, mine breaks, but I'm happy for you. I treasure these small things lately.... you offering Clyde money to buy his friend a present and sweeping the kitchen and unloading the dishwasher to surprise me!! These are HUGE things. I look at you and think, 'WHO IS THIS CHILD?!'
Because, in THIS house, you'll always be THE BABY. My last one.
So how can it be that you are five?
We love you, Rissa Our Rissa!
I love you. SO SO MUCH.
