Dear Millie,
I have some pals that celebrate their kids’ half birthdays, and some of them even have photoshoots and cakes. The day came and went for you, no big celebration, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t note it in my head and think how crazy life is that you were sitting between your first and second birthdays. While I say I remember you being little, I also don’t. It is all a sort of blur, and now this very independent and active version of you is all that I really know. Your personality continues to be what it always has been: stubborn, strong, easy-going, and independent. and it’s only becoming more apparent.
You want to be outside all day, every day. The heat in Florida has hit the intolerable stage where even if we are out at 8am, I am profusely sweating (and I don’t really sweat!). You don’t care, and it is all you want to do. during the day you run to the back door and say “Side! Latură!” begging to go out. When I drive by the park and don’t stop, which you somehow are able to notice, you cry uncontrollably. Honestly, you rarely cry and the first time this happened, I thought something was seriously wrong with you, like your finger was pinched in your car seat. I pulled over and got out to check on you, only to realize that it upset you on the deepest level that I dared to drive by the park and not stop for you to get out and play. The swing is still your favorite, but you have no worry making your way up to the big kid slides. You mostly want to drop sticks and other things down the slide and then either make your way down the slide or climb back down the play set. You also want to climb trees.
You have no worry of water, which is both great and terrifying, especially living somewhere like South Florida. We just started swim lessons with you (later than I originally wanted), and you love it so far! I figured you would—you are obsessed with baths and the pool. I went back and forth about what kind of lessons I wanted for you and wound up with something more traditional. everyone laughs at me and your daddy because we were competitive swimmers—you’d think we would teach you to swim ourselves. but it’s much easier having someone else do the parts where I would inevitably be too easy on you. We have to stay inside and watch from there, and that barrier was already enough to make me practically flip out—I didn’t think I’d be this mom, but here I am. You, however, are fine. No tears, doing great, and always making me laugh because I anticipate things that simply aren’t going to happen with you. You’re stubborn and strong-willed personality shows in your swim lessons, because you show zero worry of the water and don’t follow the directions of your instructor very well sometimes. You drop off the side of the wall when you’re supposed to be holding on and sink to the bottom of the pool and then try to swim to your teacher. When she gets you up, I always think you’ll be crying, but you laugh. It is funny and terrifying how comfortable you are in the water, and it shows how strong your personality is to do what you want when you want, even in new, unchartered territories like the pool.
You’ve been talking so much more and your words continue to be mostly animals and random, not-really-“usable” words. You don’t ask for food or specific items, you just tell me about birds, rain, babies, and turtles. When there’s any sort of animal that we’ve taught you growls, you ROAR the loudest ROAR ever. At story time, when they read “Brown Bear,” your bear growl scares the other kids. It’s adorable and hilarious. You have a mix of both English and German words, which makes your daddy so proud (you switched from calling him dada to dadddddyyyy). also you started calling me mom-mom and it makes my heart melt so hard that I will do whatever you’d like at that moment!
You aren’t the cuddliest baby, but when you get up in the morning the first thing you do is come to our bed to nurse and then spend time with us. You love pointing to my eyes, nose, mouth, head, and ears. You then proceed to do the same to your daddy to wake him up. Our bed is one of your favorite places and you run there before your nap, after your nap, and before bed as well. I love that you feel so safe and comforted in our house and room, and it’s become some of my favorite times of day to try to get you still enough to cuddle with you in bed.
The past two months have been a bit crazy and, per usual, you keep us on our toes. We spent three days in the medical facility because the doctors thought you might be having seizures. everything checked out okay, and it was a feeling of such relief for us—and you, my silly child, per usual reminded me that every situation is what we make of it. You made the medical facility stay feel like a vacation, delighted to meet new people and explore the halls when you weren’t hooked up to monitors. We played in the playroom and took you around in a wagon, which you tHought a fost cel mai tare lucru din toate timpurile. Îmi amintesc din nou de fiecare problemă de sănătate cu care v -ați confruntat, în cele din urmă, cât de norocoși am fost și atât de mulți alții nu sunt. Încă lucrez pentru a găsi o modalitate de a da înapoi care este mai semnificativ decât ceea ce am făcut în trecut și cred că pot veni cu ceva din cauza acestei platforme și vă promit pe voi și pe toți cei pe care îi voi face.
Sunt sigur că îmi lipsește atât de mult despre tine în aceste scrisori. Există atât de multe lucruri mici care te fac, tu. Amândoi încercăm tot posibilul să jonglezi viața și viața personală, pentru a fi siguri că petrecem cât mai mult timp cu tine, în timp ce ne -am terminat munca. Ne place meseria și comunitatea pe care am construit -o și ne face pe amândoi să ne simțim atât de încântați să știm că suntem capabili să vă oferim pentru dvs. și pentru mica noastră familie (și echipă!). Dar în cele mai multe zile vrem doar să ne așezăm și să ne jucăm cu tine și să te uităm să te descopere și să explorăm. Zilele merg uneori lent, dar timpul trece atât de repede și nu vrem să ratăm. Vizionând să înveți ceva nou, care se întâmplă zilnic, mă face atât de mulțumit încât nici măcar nu -ți pot discuta. Sunt atât de mândru de micul om pe care îl devii. Ești iubitor și răbdător cu toți oamenii și curioși și amabili. În fiecare zi mă trezesc și aștept cu nerăbdare să te scot din pat, să te aduc în patul nostru pentru a smulge și a spune povești și a petrece ziua cu tine.
Te iubesc cu adevărat mai mult decât știam că era posibil.
Dragoste,
Mama