Happy 1st Birthday Emma!! A letter to you.

Oh. My. Gosh. That was insanely fast year. I don't know if it was because of our busy schedules or what, but I feel like it just zoomed right past me. 

If you'd like to read in detail what happened exactly one year ago today, here's the blog post for that: Emma's Birth Story Post

Or you can just look at a few highlights below:

Meeting Tiny Two for the first time, still in the operating room

Daddy gets a chance to meet her as well

A few hours old, all swaddled up tight, saying hi to the world

Itty bitty feet and 10 tiny toes

Mommy's first chance to bond with baby without the rest of the world

Sisters meeting!! One of my favorite moments of all time

 Fast forward (almost) an entire year:

Okay, this *particular* photo was a few days before

 But then TODAY, Emma's 1st birthday:

Morning little one! happy birthday!! 

We actually got up to a lot of fun today, but I'm going to post about those in a separate post. For now I just want to think about my baby and reflect on the past year. 

Dearest Emma,

A year ago I had no idea what to expect. Would you be tiny or big? Would you be inquisitive or relaxed? Demanding or flexible? Would I be able to love two children equally and whole-heartedly? Would I know what to do with sibling rivalry? Would I have a clue at all about what to do with two children under 2 years old?

And, of course, reality was NOTHING like I expected it to be. I can truthfully say that this year has been one of the hardest years of my life, but also one of the most fun. There is NOTHING in this world that I enjoy more than seeing you and your big sister love on one another. If my faith has ever struggled, seeing the bond between you two girls has reassured me that the love God has for me is even MORE, and that's unbelievable. You two adore each other, and I pray so fervently that it always remains so. 

You started out such a serious little thing. It was so hard to make you smile and laugh, even though you were happy. I have no idea what prompted the change, but you have blossomed. You love people, you love the world and you want to see it ALL, and explore it ALL. You love your family and your friends, and you even like strangers. It's a common sight to see you and Clara sitting in the double stroller both waving and saying "hi" to everyone you see. 

You crawled later than average, but picked up the most adorable scoot I've ever seen. I will miss it when you begin to walk, the process of which has begun already. You're taking one and two, and occasionally even three steps these days unassisted, and walking all over the house with the assistance of furniture, two fingers of a trusted adult, or with the aid of a push walker. I even caught you using Maverick once, although he's not terribly reliable so be careful with that :) Now you're even climbing all over! And you LOVE to slide!! (Although your attention span with swinging is pretty short). 

You are a chatter box, although most of the babble I can't understand. You clearly say "hi," "byebye," "mama," "dada," "cheese" (as in taking a picture), "aboo" (thank you), "wah" (water) and "t'at," (that), and there are a few other words that are emerging. You don't make any animal sounds yet, but think that mommy and Clara roaring and barking and baa'ing is pretty fabulous. Your favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and you do all of the motions with it. Music soothes you. 

You can't stand to watch someone else eat and not have some of it, so you eat pretty much all of the time :) Your favorite foods are chicken pot pie, soups, peas, pouches of all kinds, applesauce, queso, pretzels, gold fish, oyster crackers, and cheerios. You're willing to try just about everything, although we still have to be cautious because you're allergic to sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets. 

Daddy says that he loves how happy and smiley you are, and that he's really excited to see what all you do during year two. He also wants to reassure you that socks and shoes aren't really as bad as you think they are. (Momma would add that diaper and clothes changes aren't all that bad either!)

We love you so much. We are proud of you. We believe you are a beautiful person, inside and out. 

Be strong. Be brave. Be loved.

Love always,

Mommy