Dear Rebekah,
You are hilarious.
Now that you are three, and have much more to say, I want to let you know what you have been up to.
Now that you are three, and have much more to say, I want to let you know what you have been up to.
You have definite opinions about what not to wear, what to eat and Hello Kitty.
You love fresh fruit and bread – especially pita. You adore water and lemonade. Above all though, you want sweets….chocolate, marshmallows, frozen yogurt with toppings. And you (and your sister) love sour gummy toppings. Absolute favorite food though – pistachios. True story. You insist on trying to open them yourself. When you cannot, you label them as “bad” and give them to me or Daddy. As if the pistachios themselves proved beneath you or of lesser quality….
You love fresh fruit and bread – especially pita. You adore water and lemonade. Above all though, you want sweets….chocolate, marshmallows, frozen yogurt with toppings. And you (and your sister) love sour gummy toppings. Absolute favorite food though – pistachios. True story. You insist on trying to open them yourself. When you cannot, you label them as “bad” and give them to me or Daddy. As if the pistachios themselves proved beneath you or of lesser quality….
I love that you are proud and want everything to seem like your idea but that we can see that you love to copy your sister. Of course that works out better for me and daddy when your sister is behaving well.
You love love love everything Hello Kitty. You have HK plates, cups, spoons and forks. Once you went to school with HK bedazzled jeans and matching t-shirt, HK underwear and a large HK tattoo on your arm.
Oh, and HK socks. Amazing.
Oh, and HK socks. Amazing.
Favorite things to do: Sing with Marcella. Mostly Frozen sound track remixes that include Ivrit (I have no idea what you guys are saying). Dance. You enjoy dancing. So I got you a class. You enjoyed watching everyone in your class dance. It was the one time you wouldn’t dance. Hugs. You love to say, “my name is Olav and I like warm hugs.” Tickle Mama. Unfortunately, both you and your sister have discovered that hugging Mama’s leg tickles her and you think it is so funny. Except I am trying not to hurl you across the room in a knee jerk reaction.
Funny little things you do…You get really mad, really fast and it is so cute it is hard not to giggle (sorry). Which makes you hold your breath. When you don’t want to do something (anything not your idea) you say, “Um. No thanks” or “Not yet”. When you want to say yes you say, “Ummmmmm yes” or “Oh yes”. Never just “yes”. I think you are the slowest eater I have ever met (we are forever putting your meals in bags for the car or giving you a head start on dinner).
When I snap at you, you come back later and say, “you were mad but not right now”.
Tonight at dinner, I was was explaining to you and Marcella how I would be working a 12 midnight to 7 am shift for the rest of the week. Ella asked me some questions, gave me a hug. You had been sitting at the other end of the table, head on your hand, nodding and smiling. At the end of my explanation of what happened, how Mama is needed at night, how I will come home and get you both ready for camp in the morning and sleep all day, until you and Ella wake me up after camp and then I will start my day, get you to bed and go back to work….you smiled at me and said, “I am eating rice.” Then you gave the toothiest grin.
Keeping it real. I love it.
These last few weeks, something incredibly sad happened in Israel. I won’t go into the details here. But lets just say, I treasure every little nuance, every grin and honestly, tonight, even the tantrum you threw at Sweet Frog when I wanted to put you in the car and let you finish your yogurt in the car. True to yourself you threw your head back and wailed, held your breath until turning red and refused the rest of your yogurt. I am so happy to have you both here with me, safe in our home. For whatever borrowed time I have with you, I am grateful. And I love you.
Yours, always, Mama.
