I Heart Violet: August 2016

To my beautiful Grand~daughter on her very first birthday:

We both grew together over the past year. You learned many things, and I learned many things. .. in many ways, you taught me more than I taught you.

And here you are, one year old – a thriving, beautiful baby girl and you’re bigger than life with a personality to match, darling. And I love you more than life.

For the past year you’ve been my biggest worry and my biggest happiness. We spent every other day together – laughing, dancing, singing and exploring this world, together. When I think of life before you and your big brother, it feels like something was missing, as if I wasn’t yet complete. You both made me complete, our sweet baby girl – our angel baby. And as you learned, I learned.

You learned to laugh and smile with a crinkled nose, and a toothless grin, and I learned that your laugh was my new favorite sound in life.

You learned to scream and I learned that you were a girl who knew what she wanted.

You learned to sit up and I suddenly learned that you wouldn’t stay a baby forever.

I took you to the park ,shopping,even my doctor visits and you stared in awe at everything, soaking it all in. I learned how to see the world through your eyes and suddenly, everything was amazing.

I learned you were one smart cookie.

You learned to crawl and I learned that nothing could ever get in your way…you were on a mission, always.

You learned to eat solid foods and I learned every nutritional fact about every food and cooked for you every day so you could grow big and strong.

You learned to pull yourself up to stand and I learned not to hold my breath in anticipation of your fall – I learned to breathe again.

You learned to push your little cart walking on your own, and I learned to let you go, my strong baby girl.

And you and I have many, many more years of learning together, my love. You will learn so much more in life, and I will learn how to support you through each step.

We did it, Miss Violet – we survived the first year with no Emergency room visits. Thank you for the lessons, the laughter and changing me forever – you’re everything.

Happy 1st birthday, sweetheart.