This entry is for Brooklynn, my sweet birthday girl…
Brooklynn's first portrait, and our first family picture 2012
One year ago Daddy and I received one of heaven’s littlest
angels. Daily I find myself grasping at time as it whizzes past, trying to keep
you my baby as long as I can. But time has flown by, and I want to share with
you how you have grown this last year, so that when you are old enough to ask
“Mom, what was I like when I was 1?”, I can share this amazing year with you.
(I imagine being asked that question over the phone, as you sit awake after
your own little precious angel has drifted off to sleep. And I weep thinking
about how quickly time will snatch my little baby away from me to become a
beautiful woman). This is what I want you to know:
1.
You were stubborn/determined! But don’t worry my
love, I mean this in the most loving and positive way possible. Right from the
get-go, you were determined to accomplish whatever you set your mind to. With
everything that you did, you just woke up that morning and decided “Im going to
do this today!” and you went and did it. One example of this was learning to
crawl up stairs. You tried and tried to climb up the ledge by Grandma H’s
piano, but got so frustrated when you couldn’t do it. The next day when we went
over to visit, you crawled right over to the ledge and climbed up on the first
try. It was as if you had been dreaming about it all night and had devised a
plan to accomplish your goal. It was the same with everything that you wanted:
bottle feeding, putting yourself to sleep, rolling over, crawling, stairs,
talking, walking. Just out of the blue you would look at me as if saying “Mom,
I don’t want to do it that baby way anymore, I’m big enough to do it this way”,
and then you would. This made it very easy when it came to sleep training, and
I pray that this attitude carries on to potty training and every other aspect
of your life.
2.
You were the best newborn that I have ever seen.
You hardly ever cried, and when you did you were easy to soothe. You slept like
a dream. You played big and loved big. You were perfect. Im not just being
biased, because everyone used to tell me how perfect you were. And you still
are.
3.
Your blue eyes could melt hearts, especially
your Daddy’s. He could never stay mad at you when he stared into those bright
baby blues.
4.
You had your daddy’s love of animals. Your kitty
and puppy could make you smile when you were grumpy. You would spend hours
chasing Mr. Muss and Maverick around the house, pulling tails, snuggling with them, and sitting on them.
Many times I heard giggles coming from down the hall, and I would look to find
the darting past you.
5.
You were the most chatty baby I have ever met!
It was amazing how many things you could say, how quickly you learned new
words, and how well you were able to express yourself. Of course, your favorite
word was mama, as you lay in your crib calling for me to come get you. Next was
dada, as your face lit up when he got home from work. Next was papa…papa worked
really hard on that one. Nana was the name you called when you wanted to snuggle
or talk on the phone. Jessica was your cutest name to learn, and we were all
stunned that you could say such a hard word. You are still learning how to say
Ryan, because he left on his mission before the talking stage, but you are
trying really hard. Your next two words I heard about 100 times every day: More
(also daddy’s first word) and no! It was easy for me to understand when you
wanted more food, or when you were done or didn’t want something. It was
incredible how well you could express yourself. Some of your other words
included bottle, soother, diaper, thank you, sweater, shoes, night-night,
purple, yellow, no more, down, book and mhmm. You could tell me what a sheep
says, as well as a kitty, puppy, monkey, horse, cow, and a duck. Just before
your birthday you learned how to say cute, cheese, a variation of yogurt,
bye-bye, and puppy. One week before your birthday, while playing with your
shoe, you told me they were cute when I asked if you liked them. You said
“shoe…dere (there) cute”. My jaw dropped. Your first sentence before you were
1! Just before your birthday you learned how to say “I know,” so daddy taught
you to say it whenever someone said that you are cute. There were lots of other
things you could say, plus the entire baby language that you could speak. You
just jabbered all day.
6.
You had attitude! Good and bad J you thought that you
ran the show, and were upset when you found out that mommy was actually in
charge (ya right, we both knew you were really the one who called the shots). I
could have sworn that you had started the terrible two attitude phase at 10
months. But you also had spunk, and we adored you for that. There were many
times where you would sass me, but all I could do was shake my head because it
was just so darn incredible.
7.
You were a genius baby. You could do the actions
to patty-cake, the little green frog, three little monkeys, and teasing mr.
crocodile. You used your creativity to climb onto things (one time you opened
the drawers on grandmas coffee table so that you could use them as a stair to
climb up onto it). You climbed on everything!!! And then attempt to stand on
it. You could turn on your stereo, climb up and down stairs, sneak around to
get at something you are not supposed to touch, help put on and take off
clothes, occasionally put your diaper in the genie, and take something to mommy
or daddy. You could understand most of what we said to you, even though it
didn’t feel like it at the time. Every day you did something that astounded me.
I was always in awe at what you could do.
8.
Some of your favorite foods included mandarin
oranges, noodles, steak, beef jerky, yogurt tubes, chocolate milk, pickles, ice
cream, smoothies, and fruit snacks.
9.
You rolled over at 4 months, sat up unassisted
at about 5.5 months, crawled at 6 months, pulled yourself up to standing at
about 8.5 months, and walked by 10 months. By 1 year you could climb up onto low
couches and chairs (or pretty much anything that you thought you could stand or sit on) and could really motor.
10.
Just before your birthday, our favorite things
that you could do were giving kisses (you would give great
only-slightly-slobbery kisses on demand, mommy’s favorite!!), giving lickin’s,
and giving bonks (bonking heads).
11.
You changed daddy’s life
12.
You changed mommy’s life
Nothing could have prepared us for this great adventure that
we have embarked upon, you, me, and daddy. You have grown so much this year,
and we are constantly amazed at the little girl you are growing up to be. You
are an amazing little girl, who brings joy to your family. You make everything
good, and make everyone feel good about themselves through the love that you so
freely give. I never feel better about myself than when I look into your
smiling face. Daddy feels the same way too. We see the best of ourselves in
you, and the way you see us reflected back to us in those bright blue eyes that
look up at us with such devotion. You are our whole world! We love you more
than life itself. Now that we have you, we will never let you go. You are our
everything! Happy Birthday my sweet angel <3
Brooklynn 1yr old, and our newest family picture 2013
