I will of course be doing a letter to Layla at 12 months old on her ACTUAL birthday but I thought it would be fun to remember the letters I've written her in the past so here's a look back at the last year with my Laylabug...
Just last month you were an 11 mo old and with that came a lot of walking, talking and general havock making around the house. At 11 months old you knew about 75 words, you could cruise along furniture (and eventually just walk), you could crawl up the stairs and feed yourself with a spoon (although not well...on that whole spoon thing)
I was shocked really at how much you had changed since you turned 10 mo old. I mean it just seems like moments ago when you were learning to explore, finding those first words and developing your little diva personality.
At a whopping 9 mo old you had already developed your sense of adventure and spent a good deal of time climbing over things, jumping off the edge of things and touching things with one finger to see if they were a button which would perform some wonderful trick for you.
That was a huge change from you as an 8 mo old, I mean you were just sitting up one day and then a month later you were crusing furniture. I remember you tiny sitting in your big car seat for the first time waving at people in the street and talking gibberish behind me along with the radio.
I almost remember it as clearly as when you started taking bath in the big bathtub at 7 mo old and you discovered warm bath water could be fun. Oh that month was such an adventure of pretend swimming, splashing and chasing that little rubber duck in circles.
It was almost as fun as when you were 6 mo old and you suddenly discovered the singing dog puppet and you would giggle and giggle and roll and kick and giggle. I thought you were the coolest thing since sliced bread when you did that. And then it just kept getting better.
It seems like the montn you spent at 5 mo old I barely remember now. I barely remember you trying to flip yourself over on the floor. I barely remember when you waited patiently while I made bottles and then snuggled in next to me to drink them. I barely remember, probably, because you spent a lot of time with Auntie Mel while I was working. But what I do remember about being 5 mo old were all the dang teeth. Boom! Out of no-where...teeth. You didn't even teeth first.
When you were 4 mo old Mommy went to work for awhile. When she would get up in the morning she would juggle your morning bottles with her showers and getting ready until Auntie Mel or Daddy took over watching you and then the minute work ended she would rush home and feed you dinner and give you a bath in the sink. Then we'd cuddle and play and I'd hoard you and not let anyone else touch you.
At Christmas time you turned into a 3 mo old and you were one of the most athletic babies I'd ever seen. You could do things no other kid could do at 3 month old. You could hold toys and play with them, pull your pacifier in and out of your mouth and roll on to your back from your tummy. It was crazy to watch.
During the Thanksgiving season you turned 2 mo old this meant Mommy and you did a lot of Christmas shopping and Christmas themed events. But NO memory will ever compete with the day Daddy put up those Christmas lights. It was love at first sight. You cried when they were turned off and you whined when we went inside even though your little hands were cold. You'd lay on the floor with the Christmas music playing and the twinkly lights on and just zone out in the most comfortable loving way I've ever seen.
That first month of your life you had more company than any 1 mo old I've ever seen. People would come over and hold you. When Daddy and Papa would laugh you would giggle and you wrapped us all around your tiny fingers. You co-slept with Mommy and Daddy and sometimes even now I wake in the middle of the night and miss your tiny hands laying on my skin seeking comfort and safety.
But that's just how you are. I remember bringing you home how comfortable and safe you must have felt because you instantly were just the happiest baby. You were content to be held, or to be put down. You just enjoyed being so much. Perhaps it was just a happiness brought on from your hate of the NICU nurses. That was probably a bad 3 days for you.
It was a long labor and your birth was well worth it. I never thought I'd be so happy to be cut open and thrown into instant drama. But, you know what, I barely remember the drama now. I remember going to the NICU and holding you while you ate, I remember putting you in your pink polka-dotted sleeper to bring you home, I even remember the moment Daddy and I baffled over "what do you do now that your home??" but other than spending lots of time staring at your beautiful face... I don't remember anything. Perhaps it's because there is nothing more important than the fact that you are here. Nothing at all.
In 5 days you'll be 1 and I'll write some lovely post about how wonderful you are at 1. Truth is you've always been wonderful. Adorablistic as your Nana says. Smart as your Papa says. Charming as your Daddy says. Daring as your Mommy says. Loved as God says. And most of all... ever changing... because you said.
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