Dear Jonah,
You are 1 year, 2 months, and 13 days earth-side today. I’m not good at keeping up with specific dates or milestones, but in the long run, it’s all arbitrary numbers anyhow, right? I do want to acknowledge how different our lives are now, compared to a year ago. You used to eat and sleep and eat and sleep and I could hold you all day long. Now you’ll wriggle out my arms and take off after the cats. Then you come toddling back asking me to pick you up, to show you the high-up things out of your reach. “Do you see this, mama? Do you SEE?” (This is how I interpret your enthusiastic grunts and gesturing.)
You continue to be so aware, so observant. Still and quiet and probing when greeted with new people and places. And then once 10 minutes have passed, the smiles and giggles come bubbling up. The curiosity propels you forward, out into the world, to see and touch and taste. You bring me handfuls of dirt, pieces of lint, wooden blocks. “Do you see this, mama? Do you SEE?”
I see, my sweet boy. I see YOU and how fast you are growing up. You look different today than you did two days ago. I see how capable you are – you feed yourself, you point to your diaper when you need to go to the bathroom, you clap when you hear the word “yay!”, you brush your hair with anything that has a handle – toothbrushes, spatulas, you name it. I see how much you understand, and I see how much you feel – swinging from sheer excitement to bitter disappointment and back again in the scope of 5 minutes.
You are so precious. You are so enchanting. You are so loved.
My walking, climbing, tumbling, hugging, splashing, and – yes, still biting – child. Please stop biting soon, ok? Ok.
Love,
Your (very lucky) mama
Leah, how absolutely beautiful. They say that a mother is their son's first love. He is learning from you what true, unconditional love is. He is a blessed little boy.
ladly this is super sweet! a great thing that Jonah can appreciate one day when he's older.