Every year Joshua writes me a letter for my birthday, which is always my favorite gift. Featured below is Sophia's first birthday letter from her father:
My dearest Sophia (favorite nicknames from this year included: Chicken-monkey, Chippa, Smiss, Pia, and Little One),
One! Congratulations on celebrating your first year! Your
mother and I are both excited and relieved for this day. We are learning along
with you, and can’t wait for the years ahead together. (Well maybe your Mom
would like to freeze you in time sometimes).
Your first year has been enormously fun. You have joined us
for trips to 15 states, and we have enjoyed incorporating you into our everyday
lives. We have struggled to know the best way to care for you many times, but
have marveled in how resilient you are, and how social you are with others.
Stan (our pastor) has commented that you are a good ambassador for us, and I couldn't agree more. You are quick to make friends with passengers on the train
or plane, and attract attention from young kids in the supermarket and older
folks walking on the sidewalk.
When I called to make the first doctor’s appointment for my daughter Sophia, it felt strange to
say that, but having you around didn't. It does seem strange now to think of
Chateau Archambault without its youngest resident.
One of my biggest fears about having kids was getting less
sleep, and that has proven true. However, it has not been as bad as I expected,
your mother has let me sleep in on numerous occasions, and I have caught myself
enjoying a few of the 3:30 am wake ups that resulted in us in the rocking chair
while we worked together to get us both back to bed.
My job switch, shortly after you were born, allowed me to
work from home often. It has enabled me to experience so much of your first
year that I would not have otherwise. I have been able to go to all of your visits
to the doctor, and read books after lunch on many days. I have tried my best to
be in the moment and take full advantage of our Tuesday mornings together when
Mom has gone to work early, and not think about work until your first nap of
the day.
I have started to learn unique aspects of your personality,
and I look forward to seeing what sticks and what fades. You are extremely persistent and let your
opinions be known. You love to laugh loudly, but can be very serious and solemn.
You are up for risk, enjoy riding fast down the grocery store aisles, and
squawk with pleasure when big gushes of wind make you close your eyes and push
your hair back.
You LOVE to read. It doesn't matter the time of day or even
your mood, you now are very likely to pick up a book, hand it to me, and crawl into
my lap. I also catch you reading alone, just flipping through the pages of one
of your books on the living room floor.
They say boys are the most active and physical as children,
but I think you might give them a run for their money. We often end up on the
floor wrestling as you just want to crawl and climb, and I want to be hanging
out while being as close to a napping position as possible. The only three
times you sit still are when you are: very tired, not feeling well, or are reading
a book (although we often only make it half way through before you decide you
want to pick the next one to read). It is this love for movement that has
resulted in you and I spending hours walking around Quincy just to pass the
time. Good thing I have been wearing my pedometer lately to record the days we
walk 15,000 or 20,000 steps.
You had some great fangs this year as your teeth grew in,
and are still learning what a kiss looks like as you are prone to either head-butt
us or slobber on our checks. (But your Mother swears you know exactly what you
are doing.) You dance to even the short musical interludes on NPR when it is on
the radio in the kitchen, love to clap, and wave to people (often a good 10-20
seconds after they first waved to you and are walking away, which makes me
smile). All elements of your social personality.
A favorite activity right now is to push one of your carts
around the downstairs screaming with delight at the top of your lungs. We let
you slam into the cabinets, the couch, the refrigerator, and trash can mainly
because we just love to see you enjoy yourself so much. I guess in year two we
should work on turning. Just like most things in life, we all keep taking steps
to learn how to improve.
I am so excited for you to grow up. Not because I want to
rush it, but because I have found that each month has revealed new things about
you or how you relate to us. Years of experiencing that sounds like a grand adventure,
and I can’t wait to update my database about you as we go along.
We thank God for the blessing of last year, and look forward
to more to celebrate next year.
Love,
Dada
(or that is what it sounds like currently)
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