To My Daughter on her FIRST Birthday

My daughter, you are one today. My little baby is gone and here you are – a big girl. You walk and talk, you sing and dance, you know how to take your shoes and socks off and how to hold your foot still for mama to put them back on. I can't help but smile when you jump up and down in your crib with excitement when I walk into the room to get you out for the day. You even listen when mommy or daddy tells you to do something (ie “give mommy the dog food out of your mouth”). You are the most precious gift God could have ever given us.

I remember the day you were born. When you came out I asked everyone in the room if you were beautiful and not an ugly baby. They laughed at me and assured me that you were the most beautiful in the world. You were so small and fit right into my arms – you were born to lay right there. You were so happy to be in mommy’s arms that you even pooped on me – twice but it was ok, I loved every minute.

We took you home that same day but first we bundled you up so you wouldn’t get cold and took you to Mommy’s office so everyone could see you. They thought you were beautiful too. As the days went on we had to take you to the hospital because you were sick. You were a champ; you didn’t complain (much) and you sunbathed under the special lights like a little diva. It wasn’t long until you came home again and we began our first year together.

I use to rock you for hours, long after you fell off to dream world and watch you sleep (I still do). I would wake up late at night and go to where you slept and watch you just to make sure you were breathing. Mommy’s bath times turned into Mommy/baby bath times and every time I got in the tub Daddy brought you to me so you could play. You LOVED taking baths – you use to kick your little feet, splashing water all over the bathroom. I told you it was ok because you made Mommy’s job of cleaning the floors easy since the water was already there.

We took you on your first trip out of state right after Christmas and I got onto Daddy a lot because I was scared he wouldn't pay enough attention to the road, after all, I had VERY precious cargo in that car. You were a very good girl for the whole trip and everyone in Alabama LOVED you. They almost wouldn’t let you leave because they wanted to keep you all to their selves.

I was so excited when you rolled over for the first time. That excitement quickly turned into dread because I was afraid I would forget you could roll over and you would get hurt. Then you started to sit up like a big girl and were very proud to do it too. It wasn’t long until you started eating big girl food too. You loved your food – every time food was around you would open your sweet little mouth for a bite. The doctor said as long as we gave you soft food you could have it so that’s what we did. You had your baby food and mashed potatoes (maybe gravy a time or two as well) and even pudding.

We were in Louisiana when you cut your very first tooth. You were very fussy, as was Mommy because Daddy was at home and I didn’t know what to do, so I gave you a popsicle and that worked great. When you finished your popsicle your tooth was through the gums. I told EVERYONE about your first tooth – you were such a big girl. That even earned you a piece of chocolate chip cookie for your hard work.

Next you started to crawl – but you didn’t crawl like other babies. You did a crab crawl…you put one foot out and drug the other leg behind so your knees never touched the ground. Once you figured out you could move you were into EVERYTHING. I got scared that I wouldn’t be able to find everything on the floor before you did and I was right. One day you were by the front door with something in your mouth and when I took it out I saw it was a dead dried up frog. We washed your mouth out with lots of water afterwards.

You started to pull yourself up on things and not much longer you were standing up all by yourself. You thought it was so cool to pull yourself up and knock everything off the tables but it was ok...that stuff didn't belong there anyway.

When you were a little older than 10 months you took your first steps at one of your brother’s soccer practices and Mommy was SOOOO proud. You quickly got the hang of the walking thing and now you are running!

I can’t believe how much you have changed since you were born just a year ago. My favorite thing you have done is when you FINALLY started to say “Mama.” Just thinking about that brings tears to my eyes. I know you saved that word for last because you knew it was so special to Mommy.
I can’t wait for the time we get to continue to have together and I promise you will always be my baby girl and I will always love you more than anything else. You were once a tiny little caterpillar in my tummy but now you are my beautiful butterfly.

I love you baby girl,

Love,
Mama