happy 1st birthday, sweet girl.

Dear Meredith,
Today you are one year old. I cannot wrap my mind around this fact. In a way, it feels like only yesterday. But then, when I really think about it, already in twelve months, we've been through quite a lot and everyday has held something new.



I used to wonder when you were a newborn if I wound recognize you out of a line-up of babies. I don't wonder that anymore because I have memorized everything about you. Your short second toe with the third one a tiny but longer. Your perfectly shaped blue eyes with flecks of green and brown. Your thin hair that is light brown some days and, I swear, blonde on others. Your sweet, round button nose and your perfectly plump little lips. Your long, lean body with the only chub on your thighs and knee caps. The one lone freckle on your inner left leg. Your lower back with smooth skin accented by scratch marks because you can't control the urge to itch. Your cheeks which call out to be pinched and kissed and pinched and kissed. Little baby, I knew you when were inside me but I know you even more now.

 

I know that blowing raspberries is one of your favorite things. I know that you would eat anything and everything until your insides burst. I know that you have serious moments of taking it all in and you have excited, incredibly social moments. You brighten people's day with your smiles and waving hello. You love to dig through kitchen cabinets and use things like magazine baskets and toy buckets to help you walk. You love being in the water- splashing it, kicking in it and drinking it, suds and all. You love to read and do so happily on your own throughout the day. Your laugh is my favorite sound in the world. You have a fake laugh for when you hear me and daddy laughing and you have a really belly laugh that is mostly used on daddy's silliness.

You are smart. You are an avid observer of the world around you. You love to talk whether it be babble or words. So far you say mama, dada, open, up, all done and bye bye. You know how to sign more, all done and milk. You aren't walking yet, but you are certainly trying to figure it out. Standing on your own still makes you nervous and you really only do it when you don't realize you are. You still just have two bottom teeth which is so cute. People call them your rabbit teeth, which is very accurate.




Meredith, you are the most amazing little person. There has not yet been a day that I haven't thanked God for blessing my life with you. You have made every day, even the hard, sleepless ones, so special. You have given my life greater meaning. You have opened my heart to bigger love. You have made me a mommy, the role I was meant to be in. You have made your daddy and me more complete.




Happy, happy, happy birthday my sweet one.
Momma