Monthly Updates

Dear Carolyn,

This last month has brought so many little changes it’s hard to know where to begin. You are turning into a regular little monkey. Not only are you able to climb onto the dining room chairs, but from there you can actually climb up onto the dining room table. I really think we should buy you a helmet. Or a padded bubble!

You now shake your head “no”. When I ask “can Mommy have a kiss?” you shake your head no. Although occasionally you do give kisses: the big, open-mouth slobbery kind, right on the lips. In fact, just this morning you gave Murphy a hug (the dog has the patience of a saint) and then gave him a kiss on his muzzle. I wished I had the camera – it was simultaneously the cutest and yuckiest thing I’ve ever witnessed. And it must have tasted funny to kiss his fur like that because you kept touching your tongue afterwards.

Your new signs this month are “eat”, “baby”, “down”, “duck”, “daddy”, “cat”, “book”, “pear”, “cereal”, “potty”, “hot”, “ice cream”, “bird”, “thirsty”, “light”, “yes”, “cold” and “happy”. Honestly, there may be more but I can’t keep up – you’re learning them so quickly and you surprise me all the time with ones that I’ve never signed with you before that you’ve picked up from our videos. You’re now up to 52 (or more) signs.

Sometimes you’re like a little old lady, all set in your ways. If some of the bedtime steps happen a little out of order, it throws you off a bit – and heaven forbid we actually skip a step! However, if we can stick to your routines for the most part you’re pretty easy-going about the rest. You are starting to become a little more cautious about who else might be in the room besides Mommy and Daddy, but you still charm the pants off of most people you meet. (Except for the grumpy ones, but they don’t count anyway.)

Every day I feel like we’re getting closer to something big. You are so interactive with your environment and everyone around you now, and your communication abilities and understanding are expanding so rapidly I’m pretty sure it’s all going to hit critical mass very, very soon and you’ll all of a sudden be…well, someone even more exciting than you are now. I’ve stopped trying to fight with time to slow down and I am instead abandoning myself to this exhilarating ride you started dragging me along on the day you took your first step into toddlerhood. Wheeeee!

Love, Mommy

Dear Carolyn,

So much has changed this month! You’re becoming quite the explorer and climber, and you’ve got attitude!

You’ve more than doubled your sign vocabulary this month, adding “apple”, “banana”, “peach”, “grapes”, “peas”, “cookie”, “cracker”, “bread”, “potato”, “again”, “hat”, “bed” (we use this sign to mean “sleepy”), “hurt”, “socks”, “bath”, “doll”, “fish” and “belly button” (you made that last one up.) You’re also becoming more verbal, saying “sh” for shoes, “ts” for socks, and “fs” for fish. Oh, and you melt my heart when you say “mama” – you say it in two distinct syllables, like you have to think really hard about how it’s supposed to sound. And while you still sign “dog” all the time, you also pant to talk about dogs.

You’re learning to use a spoon, and we’ve experimented with a fork. You’re still not a huge fan of meat of any sort, but you’ve learned so many food signs that I can ask if you want an apple or a banana and you can tell me. There are meals when you eat as much as I do, and then there are times when you eat two bites of food and say you’re all done. I’m not too worried though, because those two bites are generally something healthy like broccoli. In fact, we’ve witnessed you passing up cookies for broccoli. I hope you always make that choice!

You are fascinated with buttons. You know which button to push to turn on your CD player at bedtime. You also know which button to push to turn off Mommy’s laptop! If there’s a button in the room that you can get to, you push it. And if there isn’t, you look for your belly button! You know where your belly button, teeth and hair are, and very occasionally can find your own nose.

You’re such a busy little girl these days, rarely stopping to cuddle, but every once in a while you stop to give a hug or a kiss to let us know you still love us. You’re definitely turning into an independent little girl, but you’ll always be my munchkin.

Love, Mommy

Dear Carolyn,

Today you are one year old! I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by, and I’m torn between feeling sad that my baby is growing up so fast and feeling excited about seeing the little person you’re becoming.

(Click the picture to see Carrie and her bear at 1 month old.)

The changes this month have been more subtle than in past months. You’re becoming a lot more independent and adventurous, and you want to do things you maybe can’t quite do yet, but you really want to do them yourself and will get upset if anyone tries to help you. Now that you’ve mastered walking, you’re working on climbing. You’ve managed to get up on the coffee table once already, and you love to climb in and out of kid-sized chairs. Unfortunately, you also love to stand in kid-sized chairs, and have fallen and bumped your head a few times.

Now you have two teeth, and we brush them every night. First I take a turn, then you get your toothbrush to chew on for a bit. You’re loving your “big girl” bath, in the regular old tub, especially since we got a duck tub mat and some duck tile appliques for the walls. You love to point to them and sign “dog”. (We keep trying to tell you that “duck” and “dog” sound a lot alike but are different words – and signs – but you insist that they’re dogs.)

Hm, let’s see, what new foods have you tried this month? Definitely salmon, kale, chick peas, cranberries and chocolate. At this point, everything you eat is something we’re eating for dinner, unless we’re having chicken. You hate chicken. And anything chicken broth-based. I’m starting to think that my complete aversion to chicken while I was pregnant with you was because you don’t like it. I imagine you’ll at least learn to tolerate it someday. In the meantime, you get plenty of protein from cheese, turkey, beans and fish. Oh, and I discovered “pea butter” a few weeks ago, so some days I have my regular old PB&J for lunch, and you get PeaB&J for your lunch. This has cut down on how often you beg for my sandwich which you can’t eat yet.

You have some news signs this month: “water”, “read”, “bear”, “bunny”, “butterfly”, “moon” and “star”. (Some of these, admittedly, are very similar – in fact, “bear”, “bunny” and “butterfly” look exactly the same, so you sign it and then point to what you’re “talking” about.) So that brings us to, what, 16 signs? And you sign two-word sentences, like “more cheese” and “read dog” (to hear a book about a dog.) No new spoken words yet, but you’re working on your “s” and “sh” sounds. You really love socks and shoes and try out those sounds whenever you see them, so I think you’ll get those words soon! Sometimes it really sounds like you’re trying to swear. Since Daddy and I really watch our language around you, though, I’m pretty sure you’re just talking about shoes!

We had a big birthday party for you a couple of days ago, and you had a great time. Tonight we just had a little celebration, and I made your favorites: turkey, green beans and sweet potatoes. Instead of a cake I bought a pumpkin roll for you to try – we’re a little “caked out”, and you have another big birthday party this weekend, so I figured it would be ok. You loved it so much you were actually licking the plate! I hate to tell you, but while you were licking the front of your plate, Molly was licking the back of it. I really wish we’d gotten that on video! And then when you were all done with your cake you tried to eat my piece too. I’m glad you like pumpkin so much, because you’re my little pumpkin. (You’re going to hate me someday when you read this!) Oh, and we got you a book and a doll for your birthday. The first thing you did was drop your doll on her head and step on her. Poor dolly!

You’re definitely making the transition from baby girl to little girl, and while I miss the baby I’m loving the little girl you’re becoming. I’m sure someday I’m going to see you with your own little girl and wonder where the time went. In the meantime, I guess I’d better try to enjoy every single minute I have with my little girl. I love you, Carrie.

Love, Mommy

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Dear Carolyn,

It’s only one more month until your first birthday! This time last year I was home on bedrest, watching you do somersaults and have hiccups and wondering what you’d be like. And now…now you’re a busy little toddler who still gets the hiccups and is trying to learn how to do somersaults.

I realized the other day that it’s been two whole weeks since you crawled for any length of time. You spend most of your time walking, and you’ve even started running sometimes. The dogs are very worried about this development. We finally got you a pair of “real” shoes last week, since you’ve been walking everywhere, even outside. It’s hard to let you get down and walk when we’re out though, because you and I have vastly different ideas about which direction we should be going. You also need to stop and pick up or touch everything in your path – even if it’s the 27th pine needle we’ve encountered in the last two feet we’ve walked.

We think you have your first tooth! I noticed a white spot on your bottom gum about a week ago, and although it hasn’t gotten any taller yet I’m confident it will eventually become a tooth. It was preceded by about 4 days of total misery, especially at night – there was screaming, wailing, and gnashing of gums. I hope that they’re not all so bad for you.

You haven’t tried quite so many foods this month as last, but there have been a few: pork, honeydew, eggplant, pumpkin, watermelon, fish, spinach and strawberries. Your favorites haven’t changed much from last month, either, but you have tried a lot of different table foods. I don’t generally have to make anything special for you to eat anymore – you just eat what we do, although you aren’t too fond of meat yet.

Just in the past couple of weeks your signing vocabulary has exploded! In addition to “milk”, “more” and “all done”, you now sign “cheese”, “ball”, “binky”, “shoes”, “dog” and “play”. I’m pretty sure you’re trying to sign “peas”, and you’ve made up your own sign for water (you pat your flat hand against the side of your head). Your babbling also sounds a lot like words sometimes. I think you really do say “dog” (“daw”), “duck” (“duh”) and “llama”…but we haven’t decided which is (was?) your first word yet. Your “mama” and “dada” can really mean anyone or anything at this point – we’re still waiting for you to figure out which of us belongs to each name.

Your favorite things to do are generally pretty simple – you look through books (sometimes babbling to yourself as you turn the pages), you nest your stacking cups, you try to climb in and out of your little rocking chair. You love to feed the dogs Cheerios from your snack trap: you sit in front of the gate and drop them over the bottom rail.

It’s great fun watching your personality emerge, even if sometimes it’s a little more stubborn than I’d expect! I love watching how busy you are, walking from toy to toy and making little puttering noises. (Your grandma says your little engine is running.) You’re definitely unhappy about being contained anywhere – even the living room and dining room, which are very toddler-friendly and packed with toys. And you can immediately pick out the things you shouldn’t be doing wherever we are – like pushing the buttons on Grandma and Grandpa’s television – and will repeatedly go do them, all the while looking back at me to see how I’ll react. It’s OK, though. If you weren’t so persistent, you probably wouldn’t have learned half the things you’ve learned so far. And there’s a benefit to me, too: eventually, all the running after you I’m doing will get me in shape, right?

Love, Mommy

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Dear Carolyn,

You are ten months old today. My adorable little baby is rapidly turning into an adorable little toddler! I’ve already started planning your birthday party…well, I’ve picked out the cake and set a date, does that count?

You’re starting to walk now. You walk mostly when you have something in your hands or see something you want to grab, because it leaves your hands free instead of needing them to crawl. And you are so proud of yourself: you giggle whenever you string a few steps together – especially if it’s towards a dog. The dogs are absolutely terrified that you walk now. Just wait until you learn to run!

Once again, there are no teeth to report. I promise if you haven’t gotten them by kindergarten we’ll get you baby dentures so you can smile with all your classmates. It doesn’t seem to bother you in the slightest, though. We’re entering a new phase of solid food: anything on a spoon is automatically yucky. This month you’ve tried: nectarines, papaya, wheat germ, cheese, lentils, chicken, red peppers, onion, beef, parsnips, tomatoes, turkey, mandarin oranges, asparagus and pickles! You could live on peas, ditalini pasta tossed with butter and romano cheese, blueberries, black beans, grapes, cheese, graham crackers (a.k.a. cookies) and cheerios. Thankfully, you’re generally willing to eat other things too.

You now have a vocabulary of three signs: “milk”, “more” and “all done”. You’ve figured out how to point to things, and generally get your meaning across, although sometimes I’m a bit slow on the uptake. There are times that I think you might be saying “duck” (like in the bath, with your 6 duck bath toys) and times when it sounds like you’re saying “dog” (also generally in context) but we haven’t quite declared either of those an official first word.

You definitely have a very strong personality, and a very strong opinion on what you do and do not want to do. I, uh, can’t wait to see what you’re like when you turn two! You’ve perfected a little escape move: arms straight up, legs turn to jelly, don’t bend in the middle. This makes it almost impossible to hold you in any fashion – on my hip, in my arms or on my lap. And you’re getting really good at nap and bed-time delaying tactics. You either pop your binky out of your mouth, babble at it for a bit, then drop it on the floor or try to put it in my mouth, or you do something really cute like point to my eyes, nose and mouth, where of course I’m forced to kiss your fingers.

There are moments when you are very frustrated – and frustrating! – and I wish that you were just a little older so we could talk and you could tell me what you want in words instead of crying. But then there are the other moments – like when I’ve nursed you to sleep for your morning nap and I’m just holding you in the rocking chair and you smell like milk and the cheerios you had at breakfast, and I desperately wish I could stop time just for a little while.

Love, Mommy

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Dear Carolyn,

My goodness. You’ve been out in the world for as long as I was pregnant with you! The time really has gone by so quickly – in just a few short months I’ll be planning your first birthday party.

You’ve been trying so hard to stand up without pulling up on anything and to climb on things, and you’re so close to walking – I’ve seen you thinking about it a couple of times, when you get to the end of the piece of furniture you’re cruising on and debate whether to try to walk to the next or get down and crawl. Your balance has improved so much since last month, and you frequently stand unassisted for quite a while and then gracefully sit back down.

We’ve had to really get serious about baby proofing, putting locks on all the cabinet doors that you’ve figured out how to open and anchoring furniture to the wall. I feel a little bad, because you love opening and shutting doors, but none of our cabinets are currently all that baby-safe…that’s a project for next month, to give you a cabinet of your own!

You still don’t have any teeth, but I really love those toothless little grins so I don’t mind at all. And your lack of teeth hasn’t stopped you from eating anything I put on your tray. You absolutely love cheerios, banana chunks, graham crackers and black beans. In fact, there really isn’t any finger food you’ve tried that you haven’t enjoyed. I did finally find a food you don’t really like, though: cottage cheese. I think it’s a texture thing for you, but since we’ve only tried it once so far I’m hoping you’ll change your mind. You’ve tried lots of new foods this past month: wheat, blueberries, cherries, zucchini, cheerios, apricots, yellow squash, raspberries, broccoli, potatoes, cottage cheese, cauliflower, black beans, egg yolk and prunes – I’m running out of new foods for you to try! I gave you yogurt again today, and so far it doesn’t seem to be bothering you like it did a few weeks ago.

You’ve learned to babble, and we get treated with endless streams of ba-ba-ba, da-da-da, and ma-ma-ma – although that last one is usually only when you want something. You consistently sign “more” when you want more food, and “milk” both when you want to nurse and when you’re in your high chair and want water. You love to “talk” though, and you try to be the loudest thing in the room – if the vacuum cleaner is on or Daddy’s using the drill you’ll shout over it. You love making your voice echo in bathrooms and other small spaces!

I enjoyed being pregnant with you – well, mostly, if you don’t count the all-day morning sickness in the beginning – but these last 9 months have been so much more fun than those first 9 months. Every day I think maybe you might be the cutest you’ll ever be, but then you do something even cuter the next day. I’m pretty sure you got an extra helping of cuteness when they were handing it out to all the babies-to-be!

Love, Mommy

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Dear Carolyn,

My goodness, you’re growing so quickly! I can’t believe that you’re already eight months old. I look back at the pictures from when you were born, and I can hardly believe that you’re the same little girl as that tiny little baby.

You’re very confident about pulling up on things now. You can even stand on your own for a moment or two – until you realize that you’re not holding on to anything, and then you plop back down on your butt. You’ve started taking steps holding onto hands or furniture, too.

We’ve added a few new foods to your diet since last month: oatmeal, green beans, peaches, squash, barley and plums. We tried out yogurt for a few days, but even though you absolutely love how it tastes it didn’t agree with you so well – not an allergic reaction or anything, just tummy troubles – so we’ll wait and try it again in another month or two. You’re also learning how to pick up food and feed yourself. In fact, just today you figured out how to consistently get puffed rice cereal off your tray and into your mouth.

The LeapFrog learning table is still your favorite toy. You walk around it now and play with all the different buttons and spinning things. A new thing this month is that you’ve figured out different things to do with your toys besides chew on them! You bang blocks together, turn the pages of books, and shake rattling things. You’ve discovered that cars have wheels, and the one we have that you can pull back and release and watch it move forward is one of the first toys you go for when it’s time to play.

You consistently wave “bye-bye”, although generally about 30 seconds after the person going away has actually left. You clap your hands when asked to, and sometimes just when you’re really happy about something. You’ve figured out how to point, and you’re really starting to enjoy the touch-and-feel books we have. I’m starting to show you signs for some words, “more”, “eat” and “milk”, and there are times when you bang your fists together in your high chair and I really think you might be trying to sign “more”.

Still no teeth in sight. There are nights when I’m sure we’re going to wake up and you’ll have a whole mouthful of them, but they’re never there. You’ve been drooling so much, though, that I’m sure one of these mornings we’ll see a teeny-tiny pearly white or two. Nights, by the way, have become quite interesting. It’s a challenge to get you to sleep, and you generally don’t stay that way for long. Despite the fact that you fell out of the big bed a couple of weeks ago you end up there more nights than not now because I’m just too tired to drag myself out of bed so many times every night. Partly I think it’s because you’re much more interested in standing up than laying down – it’s like you’re on autopilot: there are times when I put you down – sound asleep! – on your back, and you roll over, push up on your hands and knees and sit up before your eyes are even open.

You’re not really babbling yet, either. No “ma-ma-ma” or “da-da-da”, but you’ve modulated your shrieking into something a bit more conversational. We have great fun repeating each other with “ahs” and raspberries. Sometimes when you shriek really loud now I say “scream with your inside voice, please” and say “aaaaahhh” really quiet, and you repeat it very quietly. People are very impressed that you know what I mean by an “inside voice”. And I’ll just let them be impressed, even if it is just a repetition thing. You do have a very cute voice, though, and I can’t wait until you start talking – even if it’s likely that we’ll never get a word in edgewise.

I’m so proud of everything you’re learning, but there are times when I look at you and realize I’m losing my baby. It’s not as sad as it sounds, because I adore the little girl I’m getting in her place, but sometimes I wish I could stop time for a minute or two just to catch my breath.

Love, Mommy

Dear Carolyn,

Time is just flying by – you’re already seven months old! You’ve changed so much in the past month I hardly know where to start…

You crawl now, everywhere and on every surface. You’ve learned to sit on your own. It’s the cutest thing ever – you get up on your hands and feet and then push off with your hands so your butt plops down on the floor. And you pull up on everything taller than you, and even some things that aren’t. Unlike when I was a baby, you figured out on your own how to get down from a standing position pretty gracefully. Nothing is safe anymore, though, because there’s very little that’s now out of your reach!

We’re still breastfeeding several times a day, but you’re also eating two meals of solids a day. You really love peas – hopefully you’ll still like them when you’re older – and you really haven’t disliked anything you’ve tried so far: rice, pears, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, carrots and peas. You’re happiest when I give you a spoon of your own and let you feed yourself a bit. (I still have to actually put the food on the spoon for you, though!)

Just recently we bought you the LeapFrog learning table, which has become one of your favorite things to play with. Not only does it make lots of music, but you can practice standing up while playing with it! You’re also really into balls and blocks, but mostly to chew on. No teeth yet, but I’m sure they’ll come soon enough.

You’re back into saying “ah-boo” a lot. I’m still trying to get you to say “mama”, but you’re not interested at all. You do play the “so big” game, though – I ask “how big is Carrie?” and you put your arms up when I say “so big!” It’s pretty darn cute!

It’s still a lot of fun being your mama, but it’s a lot more work now that you’re so busy exploring everything! I hardly get to sit down except when you’re sleeping. It’s so worth it, though, when I pick you up and you put your arms around my neck and snuggle up to me. Of course, three seconds later you want to get back down and keep playing, but I’ll take what I can get!

Love, Mommy

Dear Carolyn,

I can’t believe you’re already six months old. It feels like we just brought you home yesterday. Then again, it feels like you’ve been part of our lives forever.

You’ve learned how to roll your way around – you even do little baby rolling k-turns to get to things you want. Another new trick you’ve learned this month is how to get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth. You think this is the coolest thing ever and get a huge grin on your face every time you do it. You can also sit on your own for short periods of time, but then you’ll reach for something and topple over. Diaper changes are becoming quite the challenge, because every time we put you down on the changing pad you immediately flip over, grab the edge of the dresser, and hang on for dear life so we can’t roll you back. You are very strong.

We’ve started feeding you solid food just in the past two weeks. So far you’ve tried rice cereal, pears, and sweet potatoes. You really like to play with the spoon – especially when it’s full of food! Most mealtimes end with food everywhere. Thankfully, you don’t mind getting cleaned up after. And on the subject of cleaning, you’re really getting into baths lately. You sit up in your little tub and splash the water, and chew on your rubber ducky until I drag you out. I think you’d play in there for hours if I let you!

You’re still pretty fond of all the toys you loved so much last month, but there’s a clear new favorite: the clip end of your binky holder. That part ends up in your mouth more often than the binky itself. It must feel good to chomp on: you’re definitely teething – next month there might be a tooth or two to write about!

At this point, you’re mostly sleeping through the night. Sometimes you wake up once to nurse, but other times I wake up at 7 and you’re just starting to stir. You go to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8:30, so you’re generally sleeping about 11 hours straight! Now I should start going to bed at a reasonable time too…

You don’t “talk” as much as you used to. Before you used to say “ah-goo” and “ah-boo” a lot. (It was really cute – sad, but cute – when you were upset and you’d say “ah-boo, ah-boo, ah-boo” over and over.) Now you do a lot of vowel sounds and fake coughing, and lots of raspberries (especially while eating.) I keep asking you to say “mama”, but you just look at me with a mischievous little smile.

I think you’re going to be a total girly-girl. Not only do you like getting dressed up, especially in red, but you think that the phone is the best thing ever invented. I’ve been encouraging you to figure out how to crawl by putting the phone just out of reach – I think you’d do anything to get to it. Occasionally, when you manage to reach it, I’ll put it on speakerphone and call Daddy at work. We leave him funny messages with you doing your little fake cough. To be honest, you’re fascinated with anything electronic – the remotes, the phone, the laptops – I think it might be that particular shade of silver-grey. Or maybe it’s because we don’t let you put them in your mouth.

Sometimes I wonder how I got to be so lucky, to be your mama and watch you grow. I cherish every moment I spend cuddling you in the rocking chair – even the ones at 3 AM – because I know all too soon you’ll be too big to want to snuggle. I hope it doesn’t all go by so quickly as these first six months have!

Love, Mommy

Dear Carolyn,

Time is certainly flying by – you’re already nearly half a year old! You’ve accomplished so much this month I hardly know where to begin…

You’ve learned how to roll over both ways, although you haven’t quite put it together enough to get very far. You can sort of creep along on your stomach – not anything approaching crawling yet, but you can move an inch or two at a time. You’re even better at creeping along on your back – you use your feet to push off the floor and scoot backwards. And about those feet? You’ve figured out how to get those tasty little toes in your mouth so you can suck on them. Apparently big toes are even more satisfying than thumbs – even when they’re covered with socks.

You absolutely love it when I blow air at you so your hair flies around – you giggle and giggle whenever I do it. You also giggle if I shake my head so my curls bounce. Apparently, it’s also quite amusing to pull Daddy’s beard. We’ve started sitting you up on our shoulders, and you bury your hands in our hair and try to eat great fistfuls of it – and then make a funny face since hair tastes awful.

Actually, pretty much everything ends up in your mouth now. Your hand-eye coordination has improved greatly, and anything within your reach is fair game. You’ve even managed to figure out how to hold a bottle and feed yourself, and you’re starting to get the hang of sippy cups too. It’s a good thing we’re starting solids in the next couple of weeks, because you’re intensely interested in the whole idea of eating, and watch every move we make when we eat. If I hold you while I’m eating, you even reach for my food.

At the moment your favorite toys are a busy block that has wonderful things hanging off it to chew on, red doggie, who also has wonderful things (especially ears) to chew on, baby tizoo, who, well, also has dangly bits to chew on…and pretty much anything I give you that you can chew on. There’s a Step & Play Piano in your room which you could spend hours in if I let you – aside from the fact that it has things you can chew on, it makes lots of music when you step on the keys. The piano in the living room fascinates you too, and you don’t even try to chew on it. Molly and Murphy are an endless source of amusement. I think you especially like their wagging tails.

You’re getting better at sleeping – I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you almost always roll onto your tummy after I put you down. You seem to sleep a lot better that way. Generally naps are sort of a random thing, but bedtime has become fairly consistent, and you consistently sleep 4-6 hours in your crib before you wake up the first time.

I can’t believe how fast you’re growing, and how much you’ve learned so far. It seems like you’ve been a part of our lives forever, but then I realize that you’ve only been here for five months. That’s such a short amount of time to have accomplished everything you have already. In five more months you’ll probably be starting to walk, and talk – and since the last five months have gone so quickly, I’m afraid these next five will too. I’m starting to forget exactly what you were like when we first brought you home, and that makes me a little sad. But I have to admit, I’m excited too. I can’t wait to see what the next months and years bring, and I can’t wait to see who you become.

Love, Mommy