those things you do.

You love pretty days. Whenever the sun is shining, you say, “Mama, look it’s a beautiful day.” Or you beg to forgo your nap, saying, “But mom, I can’t sleep because it’s such a pretty day out.”

You are thoughtful. When coloring a picture for your brother the other day, you made sure to use his favorite color, black, and when I thought you were done with it, you insisted on adding orange saying, “I don’t want to ‘dispapoint’ brother.”

You are a fan of cozy. The other day, you set up blankets and pillows on two chairs for us to read together and said, “Mama, I made it cozy for us.” You keep your eye on the details and always want to create a warm, comfortable place for yourself and others.

You are one organized chica. The other day, when we were going out of town, I walked upstairs into your room and found you folding shirts, shorts, pants and swimsuits to take for our trip. You made sure you had socks and unders and your bunny, Squishy, and books and blankets and headbands. You made my job easy … so easy in fact, I was tempted to ask you to pack for me.

You are a helper. You love setting the table and make sure that each person has the right bowls and spoons and drinks at their seat. The other day daddy was a little late and you asked, “Is daddy eating dinner, too?” and when I said yes, you said, “Daddy loves green” and pulled out a green plate and green cup. You came up to me, so proud of yourself, and said, “Look, they match!”

You are my exercising pal – or as you like to call it, ‘extercising.’ You’ll do jumping jacks and squats and stretches and say as you struggle through it, “look mom, it’s not too hard for ME.” And of course you love the cool downs when we get to sit “criss cross applesauce.” You keep asking me if I can buy you your own set of weights.

You are full of curiosity and this can be both magical and maddening. You ask, “Why is that boy sad?” or  “Can you I help you with that?” and it’s heart-melting. But you also ask, “What kind of grocery store is this?” “Why is this called a trunk?” “Why does the wind sound like that?” “Why did you say why?” “Where are we going?” “When will we be there?” Why, when, how, what, why, why whyyyyyy? It’s all day every day. Magical. And maddening.

Quite simply put, you are amazing, Kenzie. My little pal, my ray of light. So much silliness and sweetness and strength swirls around you and I am all blissfully tangled up in the beauty you create every single day. Thank you, Kenzie girl. You illuminate everything inside of me.