Dear Leah,
Today you are 2! Happy Birthday, sweet girl! Daddy, Bubba, and I are excited for your birthday party today, and my, what a year we have to celebrate! In the past year, you have transformed from a babbling, crawling baby into an independent, active little girl. You’ve learned to walk and talk (in full sentences, nonetheless), you have your own opinions and interests, and you delight us with your sunny personality. You are an easy child, you are agreeable and adapt to changes well, you are laid back and pleasant. You are my little helper, who often pulls a stool up to the kitchen counter while I’m cooking to say, “Help you, Mama!”. You are becoming quite a Daddy’s girl, too, and you definitely have him wrapped around your little finger. Here’s a secret: He thinks you hung the moon, and I tend to agree with him!
There was a moment every single day this year where Daddy and I would look at each other and marvel at how darling and sweet you are. Your giggle is contagious and you smile often. You’re affectionate and loving, always ready to blow a kiss or give a hug. You like Elmo and Minnie Mouse, you’re enthralled with neigh-neighs, and you adore your books. You are quite verbal and have adorable nicknames and words for things. Luke is Bubba or Bubbie, many of your hard “c” sounds are replaced by “t” (“come” is “tum”, “I can” is “I tan!”), etc. You refer to yourself as “Yee Yee” (for Lee-Lee), and Winnie is “Wee”. Recently, one of your favorite tricks is to ask us, “Know What?”.
When we reply, “What?”, you proudly and assertively say,
“I… LOVE…. YOU!”. It melts our hearts every time.
You have a great schedule now where you take one long nap in the afternoon (up to 3 hours), go to bed around 7:30 p.m., sleep through the night consistently (HOORAY!), and wake up at a reasonable hour between 6:30 and 7:30 each morning. You’re a good eater, and will consume as much fruit as we will allow (all types). You LOVE carbs (bread, rice, pasta, etc), have a sweet tooth (and have been exposed to more treats and goodies at age 1 than your brother was), and aren’t thrilled with vegetables. Mac & Cheese and applesauce are two of your favorite foods (so guess what we’re having as part of your birthday dinner?!). You’ve already climbed out of your crib for the first time (and I am NOT ready to transition you to a Big Girl bed yet), but luckily it was an isolated incident and on a rare night when we had a baby-sitter for you, so I’m hoping that because you were scared by the whole experience that you won’t do it again anytime soon!
You and I spend each morning together while Luke is at preschool, and I thought you’d be thrilled to have alone time with Mommy on a daily basis. However, the first morning that we dropped off Bubba at school, you cried and cried as you watched him walk into his class. You missed your brother so much. He’s your favorite person in the world, and you want to be a big kid like him so badly. You imitate Luke’s movements and phrases, you play with his trains and car, and you are tough and bounce right back when he plays with you a little too roughly, in his all-boy way. Now that you and I have a routine in the mornings, you've happily adjusted and we enjoy going to music class, errands, or playing quietly at home. You are FUN to spend time with, and we’ve shared many tea parties and shopping excursions together.
You’ve started to develop quite an independent streak in the past year. If we choose your jammies for you, you put them back in the drawer and get them out again yourself, telling us, “I DO!” If we try to buckle you in your car seat before you are ready, you shout, “I BUCK!”. We roll our eyes and have a glimpse of the drama that will surely accompany your teenage years, but it’s all age-appropriate, and you are nowhere close to being as stubborn and strong willed as your brother. In fact, there was an incident a few months ago where you threw a plate of food on the floor, and we sent you to Time Out for the first time. You walked straight to the bottom step (for you watched Luke be disciplined many, many, times and knew where our T.O. spot is), sat there quietly until the timer went off, and immediately walked over and hugged me, saying, “Sorry, Mama.” Daddy and I were so shocked that we didn’t know what to do. You want to please us, you try so hard to be good, and you rarely need redirection.
The toughest challenge we faced this year was our ongoing battle of getting you to fall and stay asleep at night. This obstacle culminated this summer when we suspected that you had developed vocal nodules (calluses on your vocal cords) as a result of crying for hours each night. It broke my heart to think that we had hurt your voice by letting you cry, and I was faced with the decision to have you undergo exploratory outpatient surgery (with general anesthesia) to assess the potential damage. As your mother, my purpose on this Earth is to protect you and keep you safe, and I was nervous about the procedure and what would be found. We trusted in God to be with you in the operating room, and we had a happy outcome, as you recovered well and we received the wonderful news that your nodules should disappear in the future on their own (without permanent damage or further surgery).
We’ve loved watching you grow and change this year, and have been with you every step of the way… recording your first steps, documenting your first haircut, savoring your toddler days, and praying that you don’t grow up so fast. You’ll always be the baby of our family, and because of that, I often think of you as being younger than you are. I’ve been telling people that you are 18-months old since this summer, because saying, “She’s almost 2,” made me feel like time was slipping away from me. Knowing that your birthday falls just 4 days into January allowed me to reset my mental clock at the New Year and cherish the final 3 days of having a 1-year old for the last time. Today we remember the immeasurable joy that you brought into our lives two years ago at your birth, when we first met you and kissed your pink cheeks. We celebrate the second year of your life and look forward to the next year ahead, full of new beginnings and cherished moments that we will share with our thriving, beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed 2-year old daughter.
Know what, Leah Grace?
I…. LOVE…. YOU.
More than you’ll ever know.
Happy Birthday, baby girl.
Love, Mommy
