Dearest Bean, Belle, Princess and the Pea, Boobalah,
I titled this post with the sentence you kept repeating to me on your birthday and in the days that followed. Yes, this year's letter is late again, and your thoughts are the same every year! I hope someday you look on this day with less trepidation and more joy, but you are your mother's daughter after all.
This year, all you wanted was a surprise party. I tried, Daph, I really tried to surprise you! Liv just wanted to share in the joy when she told you, I'm sure, and you did your best to look surprised anyway. It took a long time making all those giant candy decorations, so even if you weren't surprised, at least you had fun decor.
In this past year, you have continued to wow us all. You're genuinely kind, extremely funny, clever, loving, surprising, and very sharp. We tested your reading competency this past summer and you were at a high school level! We might have Mrs. Smith to thank for that, since in second grade she didn't assign traditional homework but instead required you all to read for 20 minutes each night. You graduated to chapter books shortly after the school year started. You loved "Mr. Limoncello's Library," and right now you're reading, "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate." Another favorite for you are biographies of those who have overcome challenges; you loved Helen Keller, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks, so far.
You and Liv say you are best friends but you and all the girls seem to be pretty close. You were in Girl Scouts this year, with Gracin, Annalyn, and Elizabeth, and you really wanted to do archery. Instead, you sold lots of cookies and won a fanny pack. I went to a Girl Scout tea party with you and we both dressed up, but hardly anyone else did. I thought that was pretty funny, but not as funny as how bad the snacks were! We both agreed, they were yucky, and it was hilarious to tell Dad about later.
At the Christmas pageant this year, your class sang the most inane song about evolution, which caused Dad and I both to freak out and teach you what we could about science (you've even spent some time watching Neil Degrasse Tyson on "Cosmos," which you say you love). Because that was your class theme, apparently, each of you dressed up like an animal for the pageant. No matter how many times I asked you to change your mind to a cute tiger or koala bear, you INSISTED on being a hideous spider. Kids were literally scared of you, even Joshua, who cried until he figured out it was only you.
You're always that way, unique and stubborn about it. You say "normal is boring" and you are confident in being yourself. You should be, honestly, because you're great. I hope you never lose that strong sense of self and the confidence that comes with being uniquely you.
You like when I braid your hair at night, so that it's crimpy in the morning, but you hate when I braid it for fun or try to curl it. You like to play with makeup, but at the same time, you love to tell me not to wear it and to be myself. This year you say you HATE pink and LOVE black, but I notice you still seem to like some pink things. You would argue hard about that, I'm sure.
You wrote your own stories this year, on my computer, and you even found pictures to illustrate them. As soon as I saw the unicorn, I said, "How majestic!" and you said, "Mom! I literally looked up 'majestic unicorn' and that's what came up!" You still adore me as much as I adore you, and you even like wearing matching dresses, like we did when we went to Maine this June. Your Nana and Papa loved on you, as usual. When you saw Keyshawn this time, you immediately said, "Get down and be my pony!" He didn't, but he did play with you and let you wrestle him.
Your family continued to change this year. I was gone a lot because Grammy was sick and needed help. Good thing you have two great dads and a step-mom who loved to have the extra time with you! DD and Dad and you and Rylan even took a road trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, right after our Maine vacation. All four of you got bit by a jellyfish! You were so lucky in some ways this year, but it was hard in others. You went to your first funeral, DD's mom's, and you went to the second only a few months later when Grammy died. You saw your mom pretty shaken up with grief a few times (maybe a lot of times?) and it worried you. We prayed a lot together for everyone, because we trust that God is the only source for our peace.
I am so proud of you, Daphne Belle Minor. I really am. I love the person who you are becoming. My biggest gift in life is being your mama. This year you bravely pet dogs! Even more brave?? You learned how to swim! You even took the giant water slides at both the Salem and Rec Center pools. You wouldn't do it in front of me (yet!) but both your dads got to see.
We all think the sun and the moon rise and set on you. Always know you are wonderful. I love you.
Love,
Mama
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