Dear Little Miss Traveler,

E. is so different when you are not here. Most of the time, he is so quiet. He spends hours playing with his little cars and trains, laying his cheek against the floor so he can watch the wheels turn as he pushes them back and forth. He makes them talk to each other {lines from his favorite movies} and he sings a lot. I never knew I played much Lenny Kravitz, but I must because he loves to bellow, "I want to get awaaay. I want to fly away, yeah, yeah, YEAH!" with a kind of manly gusto. He seems both young and old to me, full of conversation as we drive from place to place. He has no one to compete with for my attention, but he also doesn't have anyone to play with except for Daddy and I. So at times, he struggles to be on our level, and at others, he melts down in frustration. 

All of this time spent alone with him has made me think about you when you were his age. You have always been just a little firecracker of a girl. Your Daddy and I were in awe of you. We toted you around like you were just a short adult, and most of the time, you held your own. You had such overwhelmingly enthusiastic reactions to things, we couldn't help but see the world as a brighter and more interesting place for the simple fact that you were in it. 

The other day, Daddy asked E. what he was doing, and E. said, "Playing with my cars. They're crashing." Daddy nodded, and tried to get it on film. He didn't know the {unspoken} rule that he is always supposed to repeat the last sentence that E. says before E. can continue playing. E. looked up and said more forcefully, "They're crashing." Daddy still didn't say anything. E. said a third time, "Daddy, they're CRASHING." He was about to have a meltdown when I quickly stepped in and said, "Oh, they're crashing?" E. looked relieved. "Yes. They're crashing." 

It made me miss you. You know that you have to repeat E. and it's nice to have someone who looks at me and rolls their eyes in frustration like we're in this together. You're such a good big sister, you know that? I love you, sweetie. Have a fun time, but then please hurry home. Love- Mommy