Dear Isabella,
I wrote you a letter before you were born and I'm not sure when I will give it to you. I'm almost certain that part of it expressed how much I look forward to watching you forge your own path, and I still do want you to become your own person with your own destiny.
But I also hope deeply that one day you will have a daughter of your own. I watch you and think of you now as you near your second birthday and I am nearly overcome. (Really, I had to consciously turn my mind to another thought while I was grocery shopping today because I would have looked silly had I come to tears in the produce section!)
There is so much you can never understand unless you walk the path of being a mommy to a little girl. There is so much about my own relationship with my mom that I now understand on a deeper level.
There is nothing - NOTHING! - like the feelings I have when it comes to you: joy and hope, optimism at its purest, wonder at the smallest things like your happily serious facial expression when you are explaining something to me in language I can barely keep up with. The swell of pride when you do the simplest things - like demonstrating what a lever is! The excitement of wanting to watch you reach your milestones while in the same instant wanting to stop or even reverse time, and that tug of nostalgia for a time not even that far gone. The contradictory yet obvious coexistence of a deep fear that I will somehow fail you as a mommy, and utter confidence that while I will no doubt fail in some way (all parents do) you will be my greatest accomplishment simply because of your you-ness and God's grace. The terror of knowing one day very soon I will have to begin to let you go into the world and watch you get bruised and tumbled by our world of ever-growing complexity, and knowing that I will have to strike a balance between protecting my baby - a part of my very own soul - and letting you learn to protect yourself.
The feeling of having your heart walking around outside in this world of mayhem is at once exhilarating and horrifying - there is no vulnerability that can compare to having a child you love more than life itself. But the daily joys and overall depth of love is well worth the moments of stark fear. This is the reason I hope you one day can relate to me in this way.
You're almost two years old. I just cannot believe it. I love you more and more as you grow, and will be your mommy forever.
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
March Madness
Dear Isabella,
This month you had your first dentist appointment! "Uncle Chris" said your teeth look great. You didn't like him this first time around mainly because you we're terrified which is what everyone expected. But he was very nice to you.
You have also become very interested in clothes - mainly laundry. You love to "fowt" your clothes and try to help me fold mine too. You also like to put on your dirty laundry like dress up which is kind of yucky but I guess it doesn't hurt sometimes.
You astonish me with how smart you are - today you watched Sid the Science Kid for less than 10 minutes while I whipped up your dinner and I overheard they were talking about levers. You came to the table to eat and made your spoon a see-saw on your own finger and said, "Yevoh! Yeah!" And you were so proud of yourself!
You'll be two soon. How does time pass so quickly? You're such a happy girl all the time. (Except when you're being stubborn - no idea where that comes from...) You're so gleeful when you discover new things or show that you can do something.
Your latest favorite phrases are:
Uh happen? - What happened?
Oh got! - I forgot!
Goddit - I got it (also, geddit - I/you get it)
Fide it - I found it, or I'll find it
Shoe - sure
Payshen - be patient
Every day is an adventure!
Love,
Mommy
This month you had your first dentist appointment! "Uncle Chris" said your teeth look great. You didn't like him this first time around mainly because you we're terrified which is what everyone expected. But he was very nice to you.
You have also become very interested in clothes - mainly laundry. You love to "fowt" your clothes and try to help me fold mine too. You also like to put on your dirty laundry like dress up which is kind of yucky but I guess it doesn't hurt sometimes.
You astonish me with how smart you are - today you watched Sid the Science Kid for less than 10 minutes while I whipped up your dinner and I overheard they were talking about levers. You came to the table to eat and made your spoon a see-saw on your own finger and said, "Yevoh! Yeah!" And you were so proud of yourself!
You'll be two soon. How does time pass so quickly? You're such a happy girl all the time. (Except when you're being stubborn - no idea where that comes from...) You're so gleeful when you discover new things or show that you can do something.
Your latest favorite phrases are:
Uh happen? - What happened?
Oh got! - I forgot!
Goddit - I got it (also, geddit - I/you get it)
Fide it - I found it, or I'll find it
Shoe - sure
Payshen - be patient
Every day is an adventure!
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Preschool Hunting and Pretending
Dear Isabella,
We started looking for a preschool for you and we've only toured one so far (we have another tour scheduled next week) but it was so perfect and you loved it! The Early Learning Center (Seagull Schools) was so great! You got to play with a few classes and when the tour was over you didn't want to leave. The kids all shared nicely with you. You played with homemade play-dough with the older (pre-kindergarten) class, played outside with a 4 year old class, and played with the toys at the 3 year old classroom. All the teachers and staff seemed so enthusiastic and welcoming. It made me excited to think of you as such a big girl but also a little scared! What happened to my bald little wiggle worm?
When I asked you if you wanted to go to school there you said "yesh." It was interesting to see you so fearless also. When we first got there all you could see was the playgrounds so of course you wanted to go "pay" (play). And when we checked in at the office the security/maintenance man tried to talk to you and play a harmonica for you but you became very serious and turned your head away. But when we started talking to the director and walked near a group of kids playing you asked to go down and when we let you down you walked right up to the kids. Then when we went to another classroom where the kids were all sitting on the carpet facing the teacher you walked right into the group and didn't freak out when the teachers and kids started talking to you.
Speaking of talking - you talk a lot now! You even say two and three word "sentences." Like "Daddy work" or Mommy cook." And you know how to tattle on people. Haha, I'm only joking because I found a blood blister on your finger and asked you what happened and you said, "Oh no! Car seat. Gwapa [Grandpa] peech [pinch]. Yah. Oh no." Grandpa confirmed your finger got accidentally pinched in the car seat buckle. You can almost tell a story now!
You also love pretending. You put your doll on the chair, put your monkeys from your Barrel of Monkeys under the chair, and use the comb to pretend you're brushing and cutting hair. You also "read" to yourself - you open a book and babble and turn the pages. With the books you're really familiar with I hear you saying the words related to that part of the story - like saying "hi!" and "hat" in the parts of Go Dog Go where the two dogs say hello and talk about the girl-dog's hat. Also you pretend to rock your baby dolls and make your toys walk and say "walk walk." Of course you also love cooking in your kitchen at Grandma's house.
You also like cleaning. You insist on wiping the table, and you like sweeping, folding clothes, and washing your bath baby. Let's hope this love of cleaning lasts!
Just today Grandma said you started (all by yourself) trying or pretending to draw letters! She said you drew circles and lines and said, "A! Y! O!"
I know I say this every time but it's astonishing how fast you are growing up.
Love,
Mommy
We started looking for a preschool for you and we've only toured one so far (we have another tour scheduled next week) but it was so perfect and you loved it! The Early Learning Center (Seagull Schools) was so great! You got to play with a few classes and when the tour was over you didn't want to leave. The kids all shared nicely with you. You played with homemade play-dough with the older (pre-kindergarten) class, played outside with a 4 year old class, and played with the toys at the 3 year old classroom. All the teachers and staff seemed so enthusiastic and welcoming. It made me excited to think of you as such a big girl but also a little scared! What happened to my bald little wiggle worm?
When I asked you if you wanted to go to school there you said "yesh." It was interesting to see you so fearless also. When we first got there all you could see was the playgrounds so of course you wanted to go "pay" (play). And when we checked in at the office the security/maintenance man tried to talk to you and play a harmonica for you but you became very serious and turned your head away. But when we started talking to the director and walked near a group of kids playing you asked to go down and when we let you down you walked right up to the kids. Then when we went to another classroom where the kids were all sitting on the carpet facing the teacher you walked right into the group and didn't freak out when the teachers and kids started talking to you.
Speaking of talking - you talk a lot now! You even say two and three word "sentences." Like "Daddy work" or Mommy cook." And you know how to tattle on people. Haha, I'm only joking because I found a blood blister on your finger and asked you what happened and you said, "Oh no! Car seat. Gwapa [Grandpa] peech [pinch]. Yah. Oh no." Grandpa confirmed your finger got accidentally pinched in the car seat buckle. You can almost tell a story now!
You also love pretending. You put your doll on the chair, put your monkeys from your Barrel of Monkeys under the chair, and use the comb to pretend you're brushing and cutting hair. You also "read" to yourself - you open a book and babble and turn the pages. With the books you're really familiar with I hear you saying the words related to that part of the story - like saying "hi!" and "hat" in the parts of Go Dog Go where the two dogs say hello and talk about the girl-dog's hat. Also you pretend to rock your baby dolls and make your toys walk and say "walk walk." Of course you also love cooking in your kitchen at Grandma's house.
You also like cleaning. You insist on wiping the table, and you like sweeping, folding clothes, and washing your bath baby. Let's hope this love of cleaning lasts!
Just today Grandma said you started (all by yourself) trying or pretending to draw letters! She said you drew circles and lines and said, "A! Y! O!"
I know I say this every time but it's astonishing how fast you are growing up.
Love,
Mommy
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