Dear Meredith

Your birthday is approaching. You're going to be 2 years old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I can't believe what an amazing young lady you have become.

I often sit & look at you while you're playing, while you're learning, while you're sleeping and wonder "where has my baby gone?" The things you're able to do amaze me. Your ability to take it all in amazes me. Your ability to smile and make me feel like everything with the world is just as it should be means everything to me.

I'm in awe of your beauty and light. You always have a way of bringing in the sunshine even when it's cloudy & raining outside.

When you started to walk, you didn't go slowly. One day you were just holding onto our hands or furniture and cruising along & the next you were running. It was as if you were waiting for the right moment to shock me. I knew right then & there I was in trouble. There was no turning back now. You wanted to walk everywhere & anywhere you could. You were still a little wobbly, but you didn't let it stop you. You just kept going. And that's when I knew you were determined. As determined as me.

You learned how to speak. You had words before this year, but in this year you learned how to tell a story. And everything you tell is compelling. You speak with such passion. Everything you say has meaning. It's so nice to hear your voice. I cried the first time you told me you "ubbed" me.  There was just something so endearing about the way you looked up at me & said "I ub mommy".

I love to hear you call for everyone when you wake up from your nap. It's so adorable that you call for Dutchess & Brewster. Then you call for Elmo & Minnie Mouse. It sounds like you just hope that they come to get you.

This year you became a big sister. The whole time Sean was in my belly, you loved him, but I'm pretty sure you didn't realize there was actually a real person in there. Especially because you told me you had a boo boo in your baby when you had a bellyache. Which by the way, I almost fell over when you said that. But it didn't matter. You loved him. You loved the baby that was in mommy's belly. You also used an ever growing Sean as a step to get up higher on mommy.

Now that Sean has been here, you have shown us how very special Sean is to you. You get right down to his level & talk to him in a way only a big sister knows how to. He responds to you in only a way only a big sister would understand. There is an amazing bond between you both. And it was an immediate unbreakable bond.

You surprise us everyday with the things you have learned. Just when we think that you haven't learned something, you go ahead & prove us wrong.

And you have taught mommy & daddy an amazing amount of things as well. You taught us how to stop & pay attention. You taught us how to grow with you. You taught us how to have fun doing silly things just because it's fun to be silly. You showed us that sometimes it's fun to be messy & to get dirty. You reminded us that it's oh so much fun to jump in the puddles during a rain storm.

You taught us that it's ok to cry. You taught us the meaning of all encompassing love. You also taught us the feeling of all encompassing fear. You taught us the true meaning of sacrifice because it wouldn't matter what we had to sacrifice to make you happy. We'd do it.

Everyday you are here with us, you teach us something. Even if some of those things are things we had to relearn. Things that we had forgotten about.

And boy are you nearing two. You are testing your boundaries everyday and gaining such an enormous amount of independence. It's refreshing, but at the same time makes us sad. But it's a good sad. It's a sad with a lot of pride. We watch you take on new adventures. And we help you gain the courage to do things you don't think you can do. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us. I'm very impatiently waiting to see what kind of adventures await us.

With an amazing amount of love and hope............

Mommy


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