Letter to my baby girl

Dear Caroline,


From the day I found out I was pregnant, everyone has been warning me how fast you would grow. For the first six months of your life, you did grow like a weed.  (Advice to my new mom or mom-to-be friends, don’t wait for a special occasion to put those cute clothes on them. They’ll only fit in them once or twice, or not at all if you wait). While the growth was fast, the changes and developments were at a suitible pace. A pace that felt like we had time to celebrate and document each milestone. 

From 6-10 months, you are still growing like we’re feeding you fertilizer (we are not, I promise). But what is AH-MAZING to me is how much you’ve developed and are learning. The first six months you started to interact, babble, and crawl. But when did you change from baby to toddler? You went from rolling over only with encouragement to cruising along the furniture, tackling the stairs, opening cabinets, chasing the cat, dancing with dad and telling us “bye, bye”.

In spite of your new found mobility, you still are happy on my hip. I’ve gotten pretty good at doing most things one-handed so you can watch intently and approve with a gentle pat on my shoulder when I’m making a bottle, lean back suddenly when you are ready to play ‘upside-down baby’ or smile knowingly as we climb the stairs to surprise a sleepy dad.

While you do get up at a ridiculous hour every morning, you are so happy I hardly mind. Sometimes you’ll even cuddle with me and go back to sleep.

You are a very good sleeper. I told Uncle Meg that sometimes your dad and I will sneak into your room at night and pick you up to snuggle with you. It’s better than chocolate. Uncle Meg thought I was CRAZY, because your cousin is not as sound a sleeper as you are.

We are fast approaching your first birthday and I can’t believe it. I’m incredibly sad that you are growing up, but at the same time I can’t wait to see what you’ll learn next. I remember when I was pregnant, I was worried that I would lose myself in parenting. The thing is, I don’t know why I was so worried because I did lose myself to you, and I’m loving every minute of it.