You are standing there, holding a balloon shaped like the number three.
Your hair is a little longer.
Your smile is a little wider.
Your world is a little bigger.
I keep coming back to that image, as though it holds a small doorway into who you were then… and who you are becoming now.
So I turned it into a line illustration — soft, minimal, almost weightless — the way memories feel when they’ve settled gently into our hearts. Inside the curve of the number three, I drew tiny florals, delicate and unfolding. A simple reminder of what this year has been for us:
Growth.
Yours.
Mine.
Ours, together.
As you step into four, I find myself looking back at the in-between moments — the ones that never made it into photos. The quiet mornings in the kitchen. The messy afternoons on the floor. The soft bedtime whispers. The way your hand still fits inside mine, even as it stretches a little more each season.
Growth is never loud.
It’s never sudden.
It’s the slow unfurling — the tiny petals no one sees until suddenly they’re there.
That’s what this illustration means to me.
Not just your age.
But the gentle opening of who you are becoming.
And the quiet work I’m doing to grow right beside you.
Parenthood has taught me that we grow in layers — not just upward, but inward. This past year, you learned new words, new curiosities, and new independence. I learned new patience, new softness, new ways of seeing the world through your eyes.
It’s funny how our growth stories are woven into each other without us ever meaning for them to be.
You are turning four soon, and it feels like we are walking into a new chapter — one that holds a little more confidence, a little more courage, a little more wonder. And I’m realizing that I’m growing into this version of motherhood at the same time.
Maybe that’s what these years are meant to be:
Two people finding their way forward, side by side.
You are learning the world.
Me learning from you.
So this is my love letter to your growth — and to mine.
From this moment to four,
from sketch to memory,
from petals to whole blooms,
we’ll keep unfolding together.Always growing.
Always becoming.
Always us.
The illustrations are just below. I couldn't choose just one :)
And if any part of this post felt familiar or meaningful to you, come find me on Pinterest — I’d love to connect there.
