Happy 3rd Birthday

Dear Max and Madeleine,
Tomorrow morning you will officially be three years old. For you it has taken forever to be three. You have been waiting to play in the big kid areas where you must be three. Madeleine has been waiting until she turned three to take ballet. Max has been putting off potty training until he turns three. You have asked me for several months now when you will be three.
For me, these three years have passed with a blink of an eye. I look at you and the sheer size of your bodies astonishes me. It wasn't so long ago that I held your tiny head in the palm of my hand. Daddy use to say that he has eaten sandwiches bigger than Max.

I remember taking you to a pediatric feeding specialist at Children's Hospital so that Max could learn to suck right. Now, Max orders his own sushi at a restaurant and will try nearly any food but still loves fruits and vegetables the best.

I remember feeling like Madeleine would never learn to walk. You got your leggie and you were so resistant to it. We tried everything to motivate you to walk. Now you walk with such confidence and grace. You run like Oscar Pistorius. You can gallop like Logan, hop like a bunny, hop on one foot and climb like a monkey. I never in a million years would have believed that you would carry yourself so beautifully and exude such athleticism.

Because you were premature you took a little more time to coo and to giggle. When other babies were smiling at 5 weeks you took your sweet time until you were 8 and 9 weeks old. Today, you both have the most exuberant personalities. You are conversationalists and negotiators. You laugh with your whole self and have perfected the art of telling the perfect poop joke.

From day one Daddy and I sung songs to you. I had a standard few, "You Are My Sunshine" and "My Little Buttercup" being my favorites, while Daddy made up his own. Remember "A Lady Doesn't Poop Her Onesie?" and our current favorite that goes "Max and Madeleine go together like a shirt and cardigan"? It is no wonder that you both love music. Max, you are a natural on the guitar. Your rhythm and enthusiasm is absolutely a gift. Your creativity in song writing is second to none. Madeleine, your love for live music is adorable. You are a natural performer always ending your songs with a bow and a heartfelt 'Sank You'. I cannot wait to see what you can do in ballet!

So, my babies, tomorrow we will celebrate three of the best years of my life. Your life is a gift to me and to the world. I am so excited to see you grow up and change the world. Remember that I will always be your number one fan in the front row.

I Love You with my whole entire heart,
Mommy

Paulina

Thanks to Kristina, (who always finds the good pictures and videos) I'm sharing this with you...

June 1st, 1996

I missed my Swedish Hospital Anniversary this year. On 6/1/06 I went into the hospital- I was 31 weeks. I think that now that the kids will be three soon I will take the there. They can see all of it. I 'm sure it will make me cry but honestly, they are more tears of joy than anything else. It is nice to be able to look back and report that my story so far has had a happy ending.