You have a book entitled, ‘You are My Sunshine’, which includes the words of the common song. While reading it to you earlier this week, you pointed up on your bookshelf at your stuffed sunshine and asked me to get it for you. It used to be mine when I was a little girl, and I didn’t know that you even realized it was up there or had noted it before. I gladly got it down for you. Now it too has become a part of your bedtime buddies sleeping party that is rapidly overtaking your bed. You ask for it every night before bed and it joins you, your lovies, Cayman and Camel in the bed. Tonight you asked for it by saying, ‘Where is my sunshine? My only sunshine?’. You are the cutest!

We took you to an Easter egg hunt today at a nearby park. We were excited to see how you did and if you understood the concept. When we got there, eggs were all over the grass and scattered throughout the playground area. You kept picking them up and opening them; you definitely understood the concept of something fun being hidden in the eggs!We had to keep telling you that we couldn’t pick up the eggs until the hunt began. Finally, they announced that you could start. But they also announced that there was a six egg limit per child. You were so excited and really focused, you immediately ran and started filling up your basket. You seemed to be more into it than any of the other kids in your 0-2 age group. Quickly, you had way more than the six egg limit, and I was slyly grabbing eggs out of your basket and throwing them back on the ground for others to collect.

When the hunt was over we found a nice shaded spot to sit down, and you began checking out your loot. They mostly contained tiny foil-wrapped candy bars, and you immediately asked me to open them. You really haven’t had much candy, so it was fun to see you have a tiny Reese’s peanut butter cup and a Snickers (I believe your first of both). You were a fan of both. You also had an egg that had a carrot in it; this meant that you got to go pick out a prize. We headed over to where the prizes were laid out. There were stuffed animals, water toys, sand buckets, so many options. You pondered over them for awhile, then walked over to a package containing five monster trucks, and said ‘This one!’. You grabbed it and were so happy with your prize. I never in a million years would’ve guessed that you’d pick out the trucks.

This afternoon we dyed Easter eggs. You had fun helping me mix up the dye, vinegar and water and helping to put the eggs into the cups of water. You didn’t have much patience for waiting for the eggs to sit and become brighter colored; you wanted to get them out and check their status frequently. You had lots of fun, and didn’t even make too big of a mess.

Your bedtime routine has evolved (devolved?) into you sleeping with quite a few friends. At first you always needed your lovie. At Christmastime when you got your stuffed camel, he immediately became a necessity at bedtime too. Then while on vacation you got your stuffed turtle, Cayman, and he, too, must snuggle up with you at night. Also on our trip you took to sleeping with both of the lovies I’d brought (one as a back-up), and hence, your sleeping buddies now include Camel, Cayman, and two lovies. It’s really quite cute, and recently has proven to serve another purpose too.

This past week or so you’ve been waking up in the night, getting out of bed, and trying to open the door to get out of your room. Your dad wakes to the sound of you continually trying to open the doorknob, and when he opens the door he finds you on the other side, half asleep, arms filled with Camel, Cayman and two lovies. Because of your grasp on your bounty, you’re unable to get a good handle on the doorknob, and haven’t yet been able to get the door open. I much prefer this to you walking around the house at night, so for now, I’m thankful for your stuffed friends for keeping you in your room!