One Year

 One Year

Oh my goodness! How has a year gone by so fast. I have a tradition that on birthdays, instead of making a list of your milestones and funny moments, I like to take a moment and write you a love letter. I really love you. I know I tease that Dad had to beg for the last two, but really, you are exactly what our family needed. 

You bring goofiness. Whenever I try to get you to say "mama", you will say "papa" and then laugh at me, every time. 

You bring strength. When you want something, you will crawl over three laps, belly flop over a pill, scale the side of the couch, climb up onto the table, just to get a book that you know you aren't suppose to have. I will take the book away from you and then the process starts all over to reach the other table for another book. 

You bring extra love. When you wake up in the mornings, you love to cuddle up, drink a bottle milk, and then snuggle for another 15 minutes, most of the time, falling right back asleep  for another hour or so. 

You bring messes. Oh the messes. I just ordered more baby locks because you love to get into the cabinets and create chaos. I found you had dumped the bucket of oxyclean all over you. You love to suck on my tampons (still in the wrapper, thank goodness), and rummage for leftovers in the trash can. I was playing a game with you the other day. I was putting all the shapes into the shape sorter toy. Once I did them all, you ripped off the lid, each them one at a time, and threw them one your shoulders. That was the game. We played about 20 rounds of it. You love making messes. 

You bring laughter. All the kids adore you and you adore them. I love finding out what makes people laugh. At the dinner table, you kept putting your feet on the table as you ate a dinner roll just because Sam was cracking up over it. When Dad is wrestling with the big kids, you crawl right on over because that is where the laughter is and you want to be a part of it. 

You bring so much into our family. I know what our family was like without you, but to tell you the truth, you add so much more to our family that I would never go back. My love for you is bursting from me that I want to literally squeeze you and eat your cheeks off. I have been bale to hold off for this long, so I think you are safe. I am sad to see you leave the baby stage and become more of a toddler. At the same time, I am so excited to see where you will go in life. 

Love Always,

Mom