Dear Autumn



Dear Autumn,

I can't believe in just a little over a month you will be 2 years old! I still remember so vividly your first birthday so it seems crazy to think a whole year has past. I try to tell myself that not much has changed, but when I go back and look at pictures from the last year you have gone from my baby to my sweet little girl. A whole little person has developed out of nowhere!

Most days I love being at home with you - I wouldn't trade it for the world. I find myself thinking that you are my best friend and my partner in crime. You make me laugh and make me feel needed and loved everyday - you're like a dog, but you smell better and can talk back in a conversation.

Funny things I don't want to forget:
  • Last week you had strep which was terrifying - you spewed all over the doctors floor, but instead of being mortified I was just terrified that something was seriously wrong with my favorite person in the whole world. You'd started to get better and I ran off to run an errand while you stayed home with Dad. When I got home, your eyes looked sunken in and you had dark circles around your beautiful blue eyes - What happened?! I thought you were getting better?! Turns out you'd just found Mama's makeup and jazzed up your look a bit. Hey, I do it too - when I'm not feeling good a little makeup helps pick me up. 
  • You're counting everything. You've got 1,2,3 down pat - perhaps Dad and I should count higher once in a while to expand your vocabulary. I love walking in on you lining up your "Little People" toys and counting them one by one. It's amazing what you pick up and learn so quickly.
  • We're raising a southern belle - you say Please (with a smile) and Thank You perfectly. 
  • Your favorite saying is to gasp and then exclaim, "Oh no! Where'd he go?" Many variations have formed from this phrase - "Where'd it go? Here you go. Where is it?"
  • You call just about everything you don't know the actual word for "this". Why? Because when we don't know what you want, we point to everything and go, This? This? It's not your fault you put two and two together and just assume that's what it's called. 
  • You love to talk about the birds, balls, trees, planes, Diego, Dora, backpack, babies, icles (popsicles), wa (water), na (fruit snacks) and more. Your vocabulary is growing everyday and I am so proud!
  • I often find you grunting and hanging onto the freezer door looking for Popsicle. You can eat 3-5 like they're water (which, aren't they mostly) and still want more. I try to limit you, but when you say "Please" unprompted and shoot me that smile well, like the Popsicle will eventually - I melt.
  • You've always loved music - you'll point to Nana and Grandpa's boom box hoping someone will turn it on so you can rock out. In really repetitious songs on the radio, I hear you singing along in the backseat. It melts my heart to hear you sing "Back pack, back pack, back pack back pack..." when you watch Dora.
  • Nana says that you are all girl, but you are tough. Your knees and legs are covered in bruises from all the exploring you do. Despite having taken out a splinter over a week ago, you still gasp at the mark it left on your foot and say "Owie!" 
  • As you grow older and want more independence, you become very particular about how things are done. If we break a banana in half, you are upset. If we pull the popsicle out of the wrapper for you instead of you grabbing the stick yourself, you are upset. You are so independent and want to try everything on your own. I know this - however, your Dad does not. He isn't home enough during the day to pick up on these things - but you love him anyway. 
  • Grandpa is your best friend. I would be offended, but he is pretty awesome.
  • The other day you grabbed my blush and ran off with it. You knew I don't like you to have it so you ran into a room and closed the door, thinking this would offer you some sort of protection. I humored you for a bit and when I finally went in to see what you were up to, you'd climbed into the bed, under the covers and were reading a book quietly. Your satisfied grin when I walked in said it all.
Ever since you were a baby, you have copied me and patted me on the back as I have carried you around. I remember you doing it at just months old. To this day, when I pick you up and carry you around you still sweetly give me that pat on the back. So, while you're almost 2 and growing up faster than I can keep up you are still my sweet little baby that pats my back.

I love you sweet (and sometimes naughty) little girl!
-Mom

1 comment

  1. I love that picture of her - I just want to hug her! Of course, since she hasn't seen me in awhile and probably doesn't remember me, that might freak her out. =) Start prepping her for Thanksgiving...

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