A Letter to My One Year Old Daughter

Dear Little Sister,Although part of me is amazed that you are now officially a one year old, I also feel like you've been one for quite a while. Since you were a newborn, and even through your beautiful birthing process, it's been clear to me that you have an inborn wisdom and confidence in how things should be, making you seem older than your age at every point in your young life.

Anyone that knows you at all is familiar with your sparkling personality. You seem to draw people to you. The big kids absolutely adore you. You are so comfortable in various kinds of situations and easily hold your own in crowds of both children and adults.
You are watchful and thoughtful but also confident and aggressive in certain ways. You go after what you want, communicate clearly with your various expressions and movements, and you love adventure.
You've always been a very physical person; you love to use your body and move and be active.
You also love to laugh and smile, and no one is funnier to you than your big brother. You could spend all day cracking up with laughter while watching him and playing with him. You also like to make all of us laugh. You're funny and willful, and I spend much of my day laughing with you.
I'm so thankful to you for being as self-sufficient and independent as a one year old could be. You make Mama's days so much easier than I ever anticipated.
I love you more than words could say, and I am fascinated with watching you grow and develop. I admire you so much, and you are exactly the kind of girl that I've always wanted to be already - strong, self-possessed, beautiful (both inside and out), and effervescent.
You make me so proud every day, my little love.
Here are a few facts about who you are at twelve months old:
FoodYou love it. You've always been a big eater, and we regularly wonder where you put all of the calories you ingest. You are obsessed with cheese in every form. When we have pizza, you eat two large slices - the same as what I eat! You go through cubes of cheese like they are going out of style. You also love grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas. We're so glad that you love Mexican food just like the three of us. You're a big fan of beans and guacamole. You also eat massive amounts of all kinds of fruit, and your favorite vegetable appears to be edammame. You're a super fast eater, and when I have to cut food for you (like the grapes I am cutting for you as I try to write this), I can barely keep up.
BooksJust like your brother, you can sit by yourself and thumb through books for long periods of time. You also love to be read to. You're favorite books are ones where you can open and close doors (like the Karen Katz books) and books with photographs of animals - especially cats. Eric Carle's Baby Bear and Brown Bear books are also favorites; you love them just like your brother did - and still does.
PlayYou love to play with your brother, and since you are obsessed with him, and he is obsessed with cars and trucks, it's no surprise that you love everything cars and trucks too. You also love to play "catch" with the ball; your coordination amazes me when we roll the ball back and forth to each other. You love to jump on the trampoline and climb. (You've been climbing up the slide and then turning around and sliding down the slide by yourself for a couple of months.) You love to pet and kiss our cats. You love to play in the sand and splash in the water. You also love music class, making music, listening to music, and dancing.You also especially love to play with me, which I adore! One of your very favorite things to do is to tackle me. You climb all over me and laugh hysterically while doing so. You also love to play "shark". You walk around me in a circle over and over again while keeping one hand on me and laugh so hard while you do it. These moments are always some of my very favorites with you.
LanguageYou chat and chat and chat all day long. Even when you are sleeping, and I move you to give you a dream feed before I go to sleep, you babble with your eyes closed. You say Mama, Dada, your brother's name, cat (ccccccc --) and uh oh!. Recently, the way you say Mama has started sounding like a teenager yelling for mama. It really makes me laugh! You understand so much, and you love to point and ask what things are. I can tell you love learning because your eyes light up and you smile whenever I tell you what things are after you point to them.
I love you, my sweet, brave girl.MW,MamaLinked up at Mama Moments Monday, Tender Moments Blog Hop, There's Just One Mommy thankful posts and Tuesday Baby Link Up.