The Sleepover

She came with her suitcase and bag filled with her favorite clothes and all the stuffed animals who were her companions.

Kindergarten beckons on the horizon. And so what I have come to expect is now different. When we play card games and she emerges the victor, she soothes my damaged ego with "it's OK Papa, maybe you will win next time." When her grandma asks if she likes the new pajamas we just got her, she says she doesn't like them, she loves, loves, loves them. The thank yous now appear often and with true intention.

For certain there is still a ways to go until we sign off on a finished product. But it is so nice to watch the best part of her being. Of what she is becoming.

For a few days this week she was in our care. And because our place had filled with guests, her bed was a mattress laying at the foot of where Papa snored and JoJo slept peacefully. 

When she wanted to do artwork she drew on a hundred pieces of paper. All of but a single image. A heart. And all for her mommy.

We have been so lucky to be part of her life from her first moments to now. I remember writing my wishes for her even before she was here. And they remain as ever the same.

Let this child be happy with who she is. Let her be someone she can be proud of and who we can take pride in. Let her strive to always grow and to search for the good in herself and others.

And let her always want to have sleepovers with Papa and JoJo. Even when she no longer needs to fill our bedroom with stuffed animals.

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