We Love You

Dear Reb,

I love you.

You are my sunshine and you have done nothing but light up my life in the mere one year that you have been a part of it.  It seems like only yesterday that your mother and I excitedly discovered that she was pregnant with you.  You are only 1 year old, but you have already changed the world; my world, your mom's world, and countless others that already know you and love you.

You are the happiest person I know with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen.  I think about you constantly, and when I am away from you I am always looking forward to the next time I will see you.

However, I also live in a constant state of fear now that you are a part of my life.  I am abnormally obsessed with your breathing patterns while you are asleep, the size and chewability of your food when you eat, and the vulnerability of your tiny noggin while you move around the house.  My heart rate rises when you pull up on the kitchen chair or make a move toward the stairs.  You've hit your head so many times on the floor, wall, doors, and furniture that I no longer dream of you winning the Pulitzer Prize in Physics; I now just hope that you can make it through high school algebra (and, even if you don't do that, I'll still love you).

You are an exacting individual that pays close attention to detail.  Whether it's examining the small screws in the storm door or whether it's taking tiny bites of your daily strawberry in order to savor as much of the fruit as possible, you amaze me with your already intentional and precise movements.

Alternately,  you can also be quite violent and abrupt in your movements.  Whether it's wildly shaking your hips to a favorite song, pounding your fist on the tray of your high chair, or strongly and repeatedly slamming the door on your miniature kitchen, you have a flair for the highly energetic and violent.

After one year of life, we believe that you have the capability of doing anything you want in life, but your mother and I often hypothesize that you'll either be an engineer (probably specializing in demolition), a professional gymnast (you love tumbling and hanging upside down), or a professional pianist (sorry, had to throw that in there) when you grow up based on some of our observations of you.

I've loved every moment of this past year, but it has gone by much too quickly. You have to stop growing young lady! No, you canNOT take the car tomorrow night. :-/

Your highly anticipated arrival a year ago ranks as the happiest day of my life, but each day spent watching you grow and embrace the world around you closely rival that special Saturday in November.

I love you sweet girl. I cannot wait to see what your second year holds in store for you!


Love,
Daddy and Mommy