Amelia Kate

Amelia is turning 3 next week, and I haven't written a single thing about her other than little ditty's here and there throughout my blog. My own mom kept a pretty good journal about me for the first year of my life, and then made up for the other years with about 6 loaded scrapbooks of my life, all in chronological order, and darling detail, which I doubt I will be doing for each of my kids. A part of me is feeling some "mom shame", but to be honest, I have spent the last 3 years trying to get to know and understand this little gal, and I think it's only been recently that I've gotten a handle on understanding her personality, and all of it's beautiful parts. So this post is for her, while she is still my one and only.

Amelia, sometimes when I think about you, I feel as though I have known you forever. Something about your presence makes me feel like I have another adult my age in the room. You are an old soul- serious and contemplative. When you are hamming things up (which is usually hysterical), your timing is oddly on point, and when you scold me (something that comes natural to you) I often feel like I owe you a detailed explanation of sorts. You are deeply caring, extremely structured, and your grandpa Pat calls you "precocious".  Your dad and I adore you.

When you were a little baby, becoming increasingly aware of the world around you, you would do these little crunches or sit ups, trying desperately to lift your head. You would do them so consistently and so often that eventually whoever was watching you would just start to laugh. I don't know what you were trying to achieve, but I remember thinking that you would be a strong personality, and I was right. You are quite the little boss in our house, and very opinionated on how things should be run. You are organized (I could do a whole post on that by itself), and have no problem taking the reigns. You want to help me ALL the time, and when you are not organizing your toys, you are tucking all of your animals and baby's in bed, and setting food next to each one of them. I always find my missing hand towels around the house, covering your beloved toys while they "nap". You are SO excited for your little sister to come, and constantly hug my tummy, and want to look at all of her clothes, and tiny diapers. You are a natural care taker, which is one of the abilities your dad blessed with you, that I already see coming to life.

You talked from a very early age and are extremely good at expressing yourself. You have a keen ability to recognize music and repeat songs that you hear. One of your favorite movies is The Wizard of Ozz, and you hum the musical scores that play at the beginning with out missing a note (naturally, this makes your uncle Patrick and grandpa Pat ecstatic;). With everything going on in that little mind of yours, you were late to walk, and are EXTREMELY cautious with anything physical. I still can't get you to go down a slide without a meltdown. When you were 2 1/2 I tried to take you skiing which ended in disaster, and while I can't help but wonder if you are missing out sometimes, I absolutely adore these parts of you!

When you play with your friends you tend to be fiery, and like to take control; you have a lot of "ideas" on how playtime should go. You have a natural inclination to lash out when you are angry or frustrated (wonder who you got that from;), and like rules to be followed. The nursery leader the other day told us that you refuse to sing the songs if they do any "silly" renditions, because "that's not the way it goes". You can be a hard crowd sometimes- but you are constantly making everyone around you laugh. The other day we asked you:

 "Amelia what is your favorite kind of bird?"
 and you quickly replied:
 "My favorite kind of bird is a pink frog!"

You are also deeply sensitive and kind. When you are not crying out of frustration, you are crying because your feelings have been hurt. You are really aware of the other people around you, and sometimes when someone is mimicking something funny you did, you burst into tears. You are very sensitive to anyone who looks at you in a public place. When this happens you run up to me almost every time and say "mom that boy was looking at me!" which is somehow offensive to you. But if you notice anyone around you crying, or who might have gotten hurt, you are so worried, and think of multiple ways to help until the problem is solved, which usually involves a blanket, or a hug. We usually have to talk it out for awhile afterwards.

You are independent and enjoy playing in your room by yourself, or somewhere quiet. Chaos makes you very upset, as do loud noises. When you were 2 years old we tried to do fireworks with you in the parking lot, and while your friend Olive, who is about 4 months younger than you was having a fabulous time, you were absolutely hysterical. We have talked about this incident multiple times, and I think you are ready to try again this year;) You LOVE animals. you are very interested in rocks, and bugs, and the color pink. You love dresses. I once tried to put a black shirt on you and you said "No! that's YOUR shirt mom". and then cried. You flip any words that are paired, backwards. Such as: case suit, key cars, etc. and we think it's pretty cute.

At night time when we put you down for bed, you usually run quite the circus. But eventually, when you finally lay your head on your pillow and the lights are turned down, you reach up and grab me by the neck and say "That's my girl, mom" and give me a kiss. or 3 or 4. Sometimes you mimic me, and whisper to me that I'm "so cute", or "so good" or "so special". You also like to give dad a hug, pat him on the back and call him your "little guy". 

Being your mom is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I love you Mills. 

xoxo