Happy third birthday, Emily!

Ending your third year of life in Vietnam wearing an Áo Dài, the typical Vietnamese dress

I always struggle to write about you. I stare at a blank sheet, write something down and then erase it. I just can’t seem to be able to put you into words. I feel like everything I write is an understatement of the incredible person you are.

So this year, for your third birthday—oh my, how are you three already??—I will just thank you.

Thank you for being my eternal sunshine. Thank you for having only positivity and optimism running through your veins. Thank you for forcing me to smile even when I don’t feel like it. Thank you for holding my face and caress my arm when I cry. Thank you for waking me up with a smile every morning. Thank you for holding my hand when we sleep together at night. Thank you for calling me "your best mamma", while hugging my legs. Thank you for missing me when I’m gone, and welcoming me an hour later like I’ve been away for days. Thank you for still wanting to touch titti before going to sleep, when you need comfort or when you hurt yourself—it's the closest we have to breastfeeding, and I'll treasure it for as long as it lasts. Thank you for loving Oliver the way you do, and letting him love you the way he does—watching you together is the deepest joy of my every day.

I love you and every bit of our relationship more than words can say.

Happy birthday, my best Ellie!

Your best mamma

Ps. Now don’t me wrong: as somebody said in Thailand, you’re a Thai chilly, small but very spicy… and you often drive me crazy! When you don’t want to walk for more than five minutes. When you refuse to eat unless there’s a whole fish in front of you. When I tell you off and you simply ignore me…

But honestly? Keep standing your ground, driving me crazy, and disagreeing with me, my piccolina, I’m loving watching you unfold in the independent, smart, critical-thinking girl that you are.