To Samantha on her First Birthday

My Sam-I-Am:

Yesterday, you turned 1.
ONE.

I am still having trouble wrapping my brain around that. Because wasn't it just last week that you were born? Such a strange thing, aging... It keeps happening to my babies no matter how much I tell it to SLOW DOWN. Not listening.

So it's 12:17 a.m. and I'm sitting here at my desk staring at the cutest picture ever:



I think if you looked up "cuteness" in the dictionary, you would see that picture. Or "sweetness." Or "makes people happy." Because my little girl, you are all of those things. No matter what kind of day I'm having, no matter how much Thing 1 and Thing 2 are running me ragged - toddlers! much energy! - you're there smiling at me. A quiet moment of SWEET and love and CHUBBY and I really have a hard time not squeezing you and showering you with kisses and smooshes ALL DAY.

That's a lot of capital letters and I mean EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I can not tell you everything you've brought to our lives. You are funny without trying to be. You make us laugh all the time. You love doing your pretend "heh-heh-heh" laugh after other people laugh, like you want to be in on the joke - which just makes everyone laugh all the more - because normally you're pretty quiet and I don't think anyone expects you to contribute.



You are subtle, and gentle, and curious, and your whole face lights up when you smile. You kick-kick-kick and sometimes even shriek when your Daddy walks in the door every day after work, because you can not contain your excitement at seeing him. You love your sister Lily to pieces and believe me when I tell you I can see the feeling is mutual. You are still trying to figure out your brother Jacob, because he can be a little unpredictable, but just this afternoon when you army-crawled your way into his room, he was so excited to see you, he shouted, "Mantha's in my room!" and ran over to lay on his belly next to you - smiles all around.



And what gets me the most is how much you love me. You are 100% content in Mama's arms and could stay there all day if they had nothing else do to (gotta love that Ergo!). And let me tell you, your love for me is overwhelming. It is beautiful. It is the sweetest thing I could ever, ever want. And believe me when I tell you, little girl, that it is absolutely 100% mutual.



I love our time together two mornings a week when Lily and Jacob are at preschool. We go grocery shopping, we hang out at home, we visit people. Everywhere we go, you are happy. You smile at people. You do your tiny little beauty queen wave. You make every elderly lady at Shop-Rite SOOO happy to see you. I would take you anywhere, because you are an absolute joy to have around all the time. And the more my babies stop being babies, the more I appreciate you just the way you are, right now, Booger Face.



All My Love,
Mama