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| Getting used to birthday crown |
September 16, 2016
My dear Grace,
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| Wooo! Birthday!! |
I have been meaning to sit down and write to you since you
turned ONE a couple weeks ago! I can’t believe I have enjoyed your delightful
self for a whole year of my life already. I wanted to tell you a bit about what
you are like as a big one-year-old girl, and what it is like to be your mom.
You are: charming, giggly, creative, compassionate, curious,
adventurous, funny, loving, adaptable, joyful, grounded, brave, confident. You
love drumming on things (furniture, toys, your parents, my belly that is
growing with your sibling inside, the dog), so Grandma Lois gave you a drum for
your birthday with mallets and everything, and you knew just what to do with
it! When you drum you get what we call “drummer face” – mouth open, eyes wide
and exhilarated. You are fascinated by the piano, and love to climb up on the
chair and play it. To our surprise, you have recently learned to
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| Billy Joel in training |
You are walking.
Man oh man. You have been taking one or two steps for several weeks already,
and cruising around the furniture with confidence for quite some time, but the
week before your birthday you really took off. First it was three steps, then
it was five, then it was all the way across the room. Now, two weeks after your
birthday, after lots of practice at daycare and at home, you are a champ. Usually,
whenever you walk, you grin and sometimes giggle, so delighted you are to be
mobile! You and I just went for a walk down our street, and you walked almost
the whole thing yourself, sometimes holding my hand, sometimes venturing off on
your own to explore some plant that caught your fancy, then returning. (You
especially enjoyed the house with the sprinkler! I couldn’t tear you away, as
you stood there, giggling with delight every time water hit your sweet face.)
You fell several times, but never cried. Just stood up again, all by yourself,
and kept walking, whatever the terrain. I was very proud of you. We talked
about the things we saw, noticing colors and different textures.
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| Do I have something on my face? |
You love to EAT. For being such a little peanut (you are in
the 25th percentile for weight and height), you sure eat like a
champ. You will often grab food in both hands, and try to fit it all in your
mouth at once. You can’t get it in fast enough! Seriously, child, I have seen
you eat as much at one meal as a grown person might eat. You would much rather
feed yourself (you sometimes just take the spoon out of my hand), and usually
we let you. You prefer your food cold. You’ll eat almost anything, really, but
you especially like banana, peanut butter, rice cakes, any fresh fruit, peas,
and mac & cheese. The only thing you have consistently turned away is my
lentil soup (which is delicious, by the way, so you’re definitely being silly –
but I kid you not, you looked at me like I tried to hurt you and scraped it off
your tongue!). We’ve also discovered that you may have an allergy to eggs and
strawberries, but we are really hoping you grow out of them!
You love to PLAY. You have an assortment of toys, and you go
through phases with them, but you have always loved holding something small in
your hand and carrying it around with you (blocks, lego, my phone…). You don’t
really have a favorite stuffed animal, but you love your various blankies. You
hold them and bunch them up to go to sleep, you hold them when we take you out
of your crib in the morning, you love to play with them. No favorite, really;
you love them all! Grandma Lo made you a very special pink bear for your
birthday, and you have enjoyed this, cuddling her from time to time, and
drumming on her plush belly. I hope she will be a
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| Klaus looks on, concerned |
For all of your delightful qualities, you are also decidedly
a toddler. “Terrible twos start at one,” they say, and it is true: you
definitely have a defiant streak. When you are grumpy or tired, you slump over
and whimper. When someone takes a toy away from you, you cry like it’s the
worst day of your life. When we move you to somewhere you don’t want to be, you
arch your back, throw your head back, and either squawk like an angry bird, or scream
bloody murder. At this point, these tantrums are mostly still cute, and they
don’t happen all that often, and they are over quickly, usually ending with you
smiling up at us and throwing your arms around our legs. We know you are just
trying to figure out how to manage this complex world, and we are here for you
to help you do just that!
The week before your birthday, you had a tummy bug that
resulted in a short hospital stay because your glucose levels had gotten so
low. It was scary, but you were in good hands and we never doubted you would
pull through. You were so
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| In the hospital |
We love you so much, Grace Victoria! We have loved you more
and more every day for a whole year, and that love continues to increase
exponentially each day! I am so grateful you are my daughter, and I can’t wait
to see who you continue to become.
Love,
Your ever adoring
mom
Couple more favorite pictures:
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| All ready for her birthday party. |
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| Helping with car shopping |
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