Thursday, May 31, 2012

To Leah with love

I'm no fool.  I know what question is coming in about 15 years - "Mom, why does Cooper have a baby book and I don't?"  or "Mom, why are there more baby pictures of me than of Cooper?"  And although there are still thousands of photos of Leah, and I'm working at compiling a "reflective" baby book for Leah (just made that up now!) the truth is that she's right and my only reason is that I don't have enough friggin' time in the day!

So this is my little note to Leah to let her know how much I love her - my precious little girl!

Dear Leah,

I love you so much.  You bring joy to every day.  Already at the young age of 17 months old you have such a funny and unique personality emerging.  You're assertive, smart, and already you believe you can do anything (at least anything that your big brother can do!) You have a sense of humour which will be important in our family.  You love to run and be free.  You love the 5 B's - bath, bottle, books, bed and most of all your best friend "Bunny".  You love music.  You LOVE your big brother.  Life with you is so much better - you are our little "Pickle".

Here's some other things I want to always remember about you and your first year:

The first time we saw you!
  • May 20th 2010 - the day of our 5 month ultra-sound.  The day we found out that you didn't have a penis and the balance of boys and girls in the house was finally going to be restored!  I immediately began to plan our future shopping adventures!
  • Dec 2nd 2010 - the day you were born - you came quickly and "easily" into the world.  We couldn't wait to introduce you to your big brother Cooper - you actually opened your eyes when you heard his voice for the first time - it was love at first sight and you love him more and more each day
  • When you were only 2 weeks old you began to really smile at us - you always had a smile in your eyes which was precious
  • When you were 3 months old you started to make the "hhhhhhhhhh" sound as if to say "hi" - you'd greet me every morning in your crib with a "hhh-hhh-hhh" - you struggled so hard to say the actual word that I thought you'd throw-up some days.  Hi is still your favourite word today - "Hi Daddy", "Hi Nan", "Hi Mom..."
  • Mat Leave - you were generally a pretty easy baby and I have to say that I had a lot of fun hanging out with you during my Mat Leave.  You were my work-out buddy, my shopping buddy, and my doing errands buddy.  
  • Summer 2011 - We began to refer to this as "The Summer of Awesome" because Daddy and Cooper were home for the summer and the 4 of us went on a tonne of adventures from cottage visits to trips to Toronto to even a trip up to the Ottawa Valley - you were a trooper through it all - even at the end of July when you started cutting your first teeth.
  • How you shake your head to the music - sometimes from side to side and sometimes you nod your head - you especially like Rock music - besides Row Row Row your Boat!
  • In September around 10 months old you started to wave and clap.
  • You started walking with assistance (pushing around a toy cart and creeping around the furniture) when you were 11 months old. You took your first step just before your first birthday (Cooper and I both saw you do it!) and you were walking not long after you were 1 (and running not long after that!) 
  • Your first word was "Hi" and you have been saying that for a long time - definitely around 6 or 7 months.  In November you started to answer your toy phone by saying "Hiiii".  Mama and Dada were also first words.  You can also say Cooper but it sounds a lot more like "CooCoo" - so now we all call Coop "CooCoo" - You were also a Monkey for Halloween and we taught you what a Monkey says - we'd say "OooOooOoo" and you'd respond "AhAhAh"
  • I have always referred to you as fiesty - you know what you want and you always find a way to let us know if you're not pleased with something.  You and Cooper get along both days but you're not afraid to assert yourself with him - if he yells at you, you yell right back at him.

Cooper meeting his baby sister for the first time - pretty cool!

Leah and Mommy - hanging out
Horsing around with your buddy Mom - eating a rice cake!
So this isn't a baby book - not even close - and I promise to work on that too.  What I can tell you is that you are an absolute love and we can't remember our lives without you.  I look forward to watching you grow into the wonderful woman that I know you will be.  I'll always be your biggest cheerleader.  I love you - xo Mom

2 comments:

Rio said...

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Husband said...

I love you.

....and Leah and Coop