things I love

• the little chip in your bottom, left tooth
• the mole on your leg
• the mole on your left shoulder
• the way your hair curls a little at the back
• this expression:

• the slight lisp you have
• how you rub your ears when you're sleepy
• the way you put your hand on my cheek when we nap

moon

So, we have this thing we do every morning when I drop you off. I ask you, "¿Donde esta la luna?" I then get you out of your car seat and we look up in the sky to look for the moon. If it's up in the sky we say the moon is awake, if it's not there, she's hiding or simply asleep. This all happens within the span of maybe a minute (until Tia Gloria comes and opens the door to take you inside). Some days you're totally into it, others....not so much. It's just something I do out of habit to get you to willingly get out of the car :) 

Today, I was running pretty late and it completely skipped my mind. You then very groggily asked "¿Mami, no ta luna?" Thank you for this moment. This was a much needed sign that our little rituals, no matter how small they might be, mean something to you. This little moment is just ours, no one else's. I promise that as long as you want to look for the moon, I'll be there to look up at the sky with you. 

third grade

Happy first day of 3rd Grade, baby, I know you're going to do GREAT things this year. You were so nervous, that by the time I went to your bedroom to wake you up you said you'd been up since 3 am!I wish you the best in everything you do, and I'm so proud of the little lady I see you growing into. 

I love you. Forever.

Also, just for fun...

bookworm

So, your new obsession is Harry Potter. When you're not watching the movies (which you've seen about 4 times each now), you're reading the books. Your teacher, Ms Leff let you borrow the first one; now you're hooked. We found Years 2 and 3 at a thrift shop and you went through those in less than 2 weeks. So after a week of nonstop "When are we gonna go to the bookstore?", we finally made it to Half Price Books. And boy did we go crazy! 2 hours and 8 books worth of damage :)

I hope that you always have this passion for reading, it truly opens your imagination to the most amazing adventures! 

Update:

9 months after we bought those books, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" came out. We stood in line early Sunday morning to get our copy :) 

Belly,

Thank you so much for being such a great big sister and a good role model for Ellie. She looks up to you so much (even though she doesn't always show it), and I am so glad to see that your good habits are rubbing off on her. She sees you reading and will always insist on carrying a book around like "hermana". I know it's a lot of pressure, but always remember that there is a little one that wants to be just like you. Make her (and us) proud, kid!