(And I Feel Fine)

Dear Cupcake,

Three months ago today, you came to live with us, and all of our lives were changed forever. And we are talking earth-shattering, mind-altering, eye-opening, "it's the end of the world as we know it" changes here, the kind that bands write songs about. (Some of those songs are really crappy, like "Watching Scotty Grow," but we're not talking about those songs -- just the good ones, like the ones U2 and R.E.M. write.)

Since you moved in here, you started walking, started seriously talking, started preschool, starting trying to feed yourself, started swimming lessons, and mostly, started showing your personality -- started showing us that you have a mind of your own, started showing us that you can make decisions for yourself, started showing us what kind of person you are going to be when you're finally a grown-up and not our little girl any more.

Let me tell you: Daddy and I are impressed.

Because we were afraid for a while. You're our first baby -- we've never done this before. And while Daddy and I like to think of ourselves as educated adult professionals who generally have a good handle on what is going on in the world, when it comes to kids, we're more clueless than not. Sometimes when you cry, we have no idea what it means. Sometimes when you pitch a fit, we have no idea how to handle it. And then you smile at us, and snuggle, and we know we're doing alright.

We love you so much, Cupcake, and we're so proud of you. Thanks for being patient with us. You're teaching us more than we're teaching you, so we're all in this together.

Love XOXOXO, Mommy & Daddy.