Almost four

Dear Mini,
I'm sorry I haven't had more time to write but we're still living through a pandemic and I have little free time. We kept you home as much as possible around Christmas to avoid catching Omnicron- the latest Covid-19 variant. Your German Opa passed away at the end of this year which was sad - he used to love getting photos and videos of you. Unfortunately we didn't get to visit him often during the past two years due to the pandemic situation. I showed you a video your Oma had sent the previous year where he wished you happy birthday and you said he should come to your birthday party.

The good news is that this year we will be throwing you a little birthday party. During your birthday last year we were in lockdown so were only able to have a small family gathering. This year we have invited three friends chosen by you from your Kita class and we'll be celebrating in our back garden. I've ordered a pinata and planned a bunch of games. Oma will bake the cake and I'll bake cupcakes.

You are such a wonderful little person - funny, sweet, thoughtful, loving, cheeky, inquisitive and cute. You tell me "I want to be by you" and we spend lots of time together. Playing with barbies or lego duplo or going to the playground. Or watching tv. We both loved "Encanto" and watched it many times! Luisa the "strong sister" is your favourite character and you love singing "surface pressure". When we play barbies or lego, you come up with all sorts of scenarios - you have a great imagination!

You are fully potty trained since around age 3 and a half. Most nights you share my bed and we both love the cuddles. We haven't been able to travel back to Ireland since December 2019 due to the pandemic but I really hope this year we'll make it over.

We love you so much!