I’m pretty sure I have a baby book for Isabelle, but honestly, I have no clue where it is. Clara has a baby book, but she was the first child and that pretty much explains it all. The first child has a baby book (with pictures!), the second child has a book but I don’t know where it is, and if we ever have a third kid I can guarantee there will be no book at all.
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the formatting in baby books, anyways. I’m more of a free-form type of gal. So, this past year I started jotting down little notes to the girls every few months. I keep them all in a file on my computer and maybe someday I’ll do something with them, or maybe not. I guess it all depends on whether I continue to be an underachiever in the memory keeping department. Sigh.
In any case, I thought I would share the letter I wrote to Isabelle last week, so here it is!
To Isabelle on her first birthday:
To my one year old! ONE YEAR OLD.
Isabelle. Belle. Belly. Busy Izzy. We haven’t settled on a nickname for you just yet. We’re still figuring out which name best fits your seemingly every-changing personality. I know you’re a year old, but you’re still very much my baby. And you always will be, whether you like it or not!
In terms of big milestones, we’re still waiting for you to take your first steps. You don’t walk yet, and to be honest, you don’t seem like you’re going to start anytime soon. I know you could, but you’re happy crawling to wherever you need to go. You have lots of teeth. You still love nursing (but I’m going to wean you off during the day soon), and you’re over 20 lbs of pure joy and adorable chunky leg rolls. You love clapping your hands, trying to talk, blowing ‘raspberries’, swinging on swings at the park, and playing with your sisters’ toys.
Speaking of Clara, you love your sister. There is no one who can make you smile the way she can and I hope that never changes. Your whole face lights up when your daddy gets home from work, and you’ve started saying ‘dada’ (or something that sounds like it) when he comes through the door. Ozzie might be your favorite member of the family, though, and you love feeding him all of your food, much to my frustration! But, even though you smile when you see any family member, you’re completely a mama’s girl. I am still the best at comforting you and knowing what you want.
You love eating everything and anything. You hate being hot. And by ‘being hot’ I mean that you hate any temperature over 65 degrees. (It’s a good thing we live in Seattle!) You have always been our sensitive and challenging (in some ways) child. You know what you like and you know what you don’t like, and you make sure we know it, too!
Your dad and I love hearing you laugh. We love watching you ‘read’ books. We are amazed that you already know how to feed your baby dolls their bottles. You love wearing shoes and try to put them on yourself. You love ‘sharing’ with other people and will hand anything to anyone. You love strangers and familiar people equally and will crawl up to anyone to be held or cuddled. You have no separation anxiety (yet). You have always been my snuggly baby. I know I shouldn’t compare you to your sister, but you’re so much like her. You are a climber and you are fearless. You take every babyproofing effort on our part as a challenge. Take the baby gate that we have installed at the top of the stairs, for example. You are always, ALWAYS trying to go under it to get down those stairs. The problem is, of course, that I’m not sure you know how to go down a flight of stairs, so I can’t see this adventure of yours ending well.
I know how much you’re going to change by your next birthday, and I’m already sad that at this time in 2018 you’ll be a full toddler and won’t seem like a baby at all. That being said, I can’t wait to see how your personality continues to develop! The world is a better place with you in it, my love.
Happy Birthday, sweetest.
— Mommy
