The girls have been patiently waiting for their videos to be done while in the meantime, they kept watching and re-watching the old ones, which is pretty sweet to see because they will go "Awwwww..., I was so cute!" It makes my heart feel warm yet makes me a little tearful when I see just how fast the years have flown us by. It's so true, the days are long but the years are short especially when you witness your child's growing up and it strikes you just how much bigger they seem to get in the blink of an eye.
Anyway, here's the compilation of our fondest moments from Ariel's 4th year of growing up. She was the first one I showed the video to and she was so delighted when she heard about it, never taking her eyes off the screen for the next 20 minutes while also excitedly telling me "Mummy, I remember this! I remember that too!" and never failing to laugh at herself at the funny parts. I love you so much, my baby girl, guess I can't call you that forever but let me do it a little longer, okay?
Dear Ariel,
Happy turning four! You know what, you've become a big sister and it's amazing to see the love that you have for your baby brother. I always thought that maybe you will find it hard to get accustomed to the change or feel sad that you are not the littlest in the family anymore, but you shocked me by being so mature as to be a doting sister to your brother, showing him love and care in a thousand ways and always helping me to keep him safe and happy.
You love lying down on the bed with didi and drinking from your milk bottles together, at the same time not forgetting to pat him or sayang him or just be lovey dovey with him. You will come at to me and say "Can you help me take a picture with didi, please?" and smile your best smile. You love to feed him and you try your best to be as gentle as you can, not forgetting to blow at the food so that it's not too hot for him. You like holding his tiny hand and you love to squeeze in the big pram with him so you can hug him (and also don't need to walk lar) and feel him at all times. Awww, he is so lucky to have you, isn't him?
That said, Mama wants to say sorry for scolding you badly when you accidentally took your eye off didi when I was cooking and he fell off the sofa and knocked his head as a result. I was mad, I was furious, I was worried that he would be injured, but I also forgot the fact that you were just a three-year-old who needed Mama as much as he did. You need a Mama who is patient, forgiving, loving and nurturing and I promise I will try to do that better with each passing day. You have to be patient with me too, okay?
My baby girl, please know your happiness matters a lot to me and I'm glad we did so many things this year. Let's see, you started school and you are in Nursery 2 this year and you made so many good friends! You know what amazed me? You didn't even cry or tear on your first day of school and was cool about it even if I stayed a distance away from you, because that's who you are - the brave, independent girl who is can eat on her own and doesn't need Mama to give her courage because she has plenty of her own. You settled down so well in school and the best thing is you love your lessons and would look forward to waking up in the mornings and going to school so you can play with your friends and learn new things too. I hope you will always have a thirst for knowledge and never stop learning even when you are older, okay?
Since Jiejie started Primary School this year, you have been following me to pick her up from school every day and we usually scoot there which means you are kind of an expert at it already! I love seeing how you would lift one leg into the air, how you move around the bends and how you enjoy feeling the breeze on your face too. We also started you on the balance bike and even though you started at a slow pace, you've been improving steadily and I think it means you can soon learn to ride a two-wheel bike so we can go cycling together next time.
You also started taking art classes at heART Studio and it's heartening to see that you enjoy learning to draw and paint too. Teacher Syafiq is one of the nicest teachers we know and I'm so happy that he's gonna be teaching you! I hope that you will find your passion as we slowly explore and that you will be able to hone your skills and stick to doing the things that you love to do.
I love hearing you 'read', even though you can't really read yet. Haha. You love going to the library with us, you will pick out books that you like and you just start reading them by saying a string of gibberish! It's very cute, and you somehow always end it with the words "Yao, yao, yao!" which makes me laugh out loud every time.
It made me cry when you suffered a bad fall at the end of the year which caused you to have six stitches and a scar on your chin. I blame myself so much because I was right there with you and I let you fall. But you were a trooper all the way and the nurse said you didn't even fidget when they were stitching you up, one of the bravest kids they've ever seen. I guess we just have to learn from this ordeal and hopefully it makes us stronger, wiser and closer, okay? Scar or no scar, you are still the most amazing and beautiful girl I know (Jiejie too lar) and I just want you to be safe and healthy as you grow up.
You are the one with the most infectious laugh, you make the funniest monkey faces, you bring so much joy to me every day and I don't even know how to tell you how much I love you and how I'm thankful that you're mine. They always say that the middle child might grow up feeling less loved and I hope that never happens to you because I love all of you the same and I will never, ever love you any less than I do now, only more.
Looking forward to more happy days with you, my dear Ariel.
Love,
Mummy