Ethel

Oh child. Oh my dear, dear child. What am I going to do with you? Your new-found mission in life is to reach the altar during Mass, and when you are prevented from accomplishing your goal, you kick up a fuss to rival anything I've yet seen from one of my children. You want what you want when you want it, and you want the world to know! You are sassy, spunky, bossy, crazy; if you're not in a good mood, everyone pays for it. I think I'm losing my hearing from your screams in close quarters during car trips. But when you're on, you can charm the socks off of anyone who looks your way. You've got the Miss America wave down pat, and your new favorite game of "Where's Audrey's Nose" is a winner in any crowd.

Being with you is sometimes exhausting, because your energy is boundless. If you get an idea in your head, there is no stopping you. Trying to do an art project on the table yesterday nearly left me in tears because you decided you had to be on top of the table, but none of the art supplies were allowed to be there with you! So we abandoned the project in piles on the dining room floor and went outside to let you run off some energy. Hopefully we'll return to it soon when you are sleeping (the only time you sit still).

Darling girl, you drive me up a wall when you insist on playing the piano with your feet; the keyboard is not a dance floor! Your name, Audrey Therese, is so sweet and calm, it sometimes doesn't seem to suit you. It's a good thing St. Audrey had such an awesome full name... when you are on a rampage, or getting into something you shouldn't, Daddy has taken to calling you Ethel (to Lucian you are "Effo"). I bet by the time you turn two, you'll have heard it so often you will think it's your real name!

Honey, feel free to slow down a little any day now. I don't know how much longer I can keep up! But please don't ever lose that spunk and spirit.