12 months

Dear Jack,

This week you turned 12 months old!
This time last year, I had no clue what kind of happiness and elation you would bring into my life and I feel like the luckiest person on the planet to be allowed to spend every day with you. You have grown so much and learned to do so much in these 12 months that I can't believe you are the same sweet mushy baby who I held in my arms in the hospital.

Christmas was so much fun with you. We bought the tree late on a Sunday and we didn't have time to decorate it right away so it sat undecorated for about a day and a half. I finally got it done while you were napping and when you came out to the living room and saw it, you were so excited by it. You kept staring and pointing at it, saying "Oooohhhhhh!" "Oooooohh!" I have told you since the Christmas tree went up that you weren't allowed to touch it and you have done pretty well with it. After 3 or 4 days, every time you looked at the tree you would look at me and shake your head as if to say to me, "Nooooo. In case you were wondering, I can't touch that".

We gave chewy a rubber football for Christmas and you really, really wanted that football. You kept crawling over to where he was chewing on it and he would get up and move away from you, taking the ball with him.Finally I saw you go over to get your small green ball was that chewy loves, crawl back to him with it and drop it in front of him, as if to say "Here, wanna trade?"

I've been trying to get you to say Mama for months. The morning after Christmas we were all in bed together cuddling and you looked up at me and said "Papa". Then 3 minutes later you looked at your Papa and said "Mama". I don't know if you are confused or just want to keep us on our toes but we are both willing do go along with it until you decide to finally say something we can understand.It's not that you are not talking. No buddy, you talk up a storm all day long. You are always looking at me and telling me something very, very important and gesturing wildly. I wish I could understand you and I can't wait until the day you start jabbering away and I know exactly what you are saying.

You are standing more and more on your own now and you still like to walk with your little wooden cart but for Christmas your Papa and I got you a fancy new car that you can both ride on and push. It plays music and has a key you can turn and it sounds like a real car starting.

One of your favorite things to do now is to clap your hands. You get such a big grin on your face when I tell you that you did something well and I say "Yay Jack!" and clap and you clap right back. So now if you do something you are proud of, you will smile and clap. You also love to reach out and grab my hands and clap my hands together.

I love to watch you figure things out, whether it's how to best hold a cup to scoop water in the bath tub or how to climb over something I have put up to block another something you want so badly. You are so patient and will try over and over until you
get the desired result. I hope this is a quality you can keep as you grow and things get more frustrating in life. Because things will get more frustrating and more difficult but I hope that this year, your Papa and I have given you the platform you need to spring up and keep exploring and learning and growing while also being that cushion that will always be there for you to fall back on and soften the pain that life sometimes brings. And even when I can't keep the bad things from happening, I promise to always be there to dry your tears and kiss and hug you until you feel better.

Thank you for the best year of my life, my sweet sunshine.
Love, Mama