One

Head!

12/8/2011

Addi Bug,

One year ago today, you came into our lives and changed us forever. You made us parents. You made me a Mom, and your dada, a Dad. We will never be the same as we were before you were born, and thank goodness. We are better people. You, in your short life so far, have made us better people.

Now, that’s not to say we haven’t had our moments together. There’ve been many sleepless nights, countless tears (from both you and your Mama), and endless worrying. Things have not been perfect. But they have been wonderful. We have really tried to live in the moment with you. We have not pushed you to do things you weren’t ready for (and we learned very early on you were not to be forced to do anything you didn’t want to do anyway). We have really tried to enjoy the little moments, the snuggletime when you were just a little baby and the times where you would fall asleep in our arms, and not spend too much time worrying about sleeping, eating, and everything else that you could possibly worry about with your first child. I think we both knew that your life as a “baby” would pass so quickly and we really just wanted to savor every moment. You are growing up so fast, and there are so many times where I wish I could just press the “pause” button and keep you just the way you are forever.

With that being said, we love the little lady you are becoming. You have some serious personality. Your smile, with those beautiful blue eyes, lights up the room. You are so determined. You get frustrated when you can’t figure something out, and you will sit and work with it until you do. You are happiest when all eyes are on you, and all attention is focused in your direction. Now, I’m sure some of these very things will be the same traits that one day drive us crazy. But, for now, these traits are what make you you. We couldn’t be happier with how you are growing up. It would be ok if time slowed down just a little bit, though.

So, let’s take a look at what you’ve been up to the last month:

You started walking! You still prefer to crawl, but you take multiple steps in a row now. We got you a walker, and your little independent self just loved being able to take off on your own. It won’t be long and you’ll be cruising all over the house.

You mastered going up the stairs, but going down is another story.

You can now say, “wow,” “baby,” and “dog (da), and “boo.”

Forget letting strangers hold you, or even friends for that matter. You prefer mama or dada, and if you’re not in our arms, you cry. You do much better when we’re not in sight, but if we’re in the room and we’re not holding you, forget about it!

You grew another tooth (5 total).

You can accurately locate your mouth, eyes, hair, head, nose, toes, tongue, and my personal favorite, belly. Love it.

Your new thing this month is to cry out, “MamaDada!” in the saddest tone ever if we’ve stepped out of the room for a few minutes and you can’t see us. It’s probably the cutest thing we’ve ever heard and this is your dada’s new favorite thing you do.

We love you so much, little Bug. We kiss those sweet cheeks just as much now as we did the day you were born, and I hope you’ll let us do that for at least a few more years.

Happy birthday,

Mama and Dada

I love these sweet pictures of your curious self checking out the tree (and taking off all the ornaments and ribbon)

***I am thinking that I'm going to have to stop doing these posts every month, since it's something I'd like to continue with each of my kids and I don't think I can keep up with one letter/photo shoot per month, per child. So, we'll probably start doing them every 6 months. Thanks to whoever I stole this idea from, that I don't think I ever gave proper blog cred to, and whose blog I obviously no longer read (Sorry!). =) But seriously, thanks for the great idea!