My dear sunshine girl,

I was just talking with your dad about how you practically had no personality until you were over one and now all the sudden you are EXPLODING with the cutest little personality ever! I want to document it through my eyes because time is so fleeting and I want to remember my little love forever.

First and foremost, you are your dad reincarnate! You are such an extrovert just like him, you like to take apart things and try and put them back together, you are a hugger, you love to be at church, you are a thinker, you are a tinker,  you look just like him and you love to love on me. The last part is my fave. I don’t see much of myself in you, to be honest, but that’s ok with me because I love your dad so much and my love for you is through the roof!

Last night while your dad and I were at a thing at church, you were in the nursery and when we picked you up we were told that you kept hugging this little 9 month old and were so loving, that you kept knocking him over! That is you in a nutshell to me. You love to love. You are not timid and don’t test the water with people, you just jump all in! When we were at the park the other day, you just went up to a dad and sat next to him on a bench. You could have been doing ANYTHING else, but you wanted to sit next to a stranger on a bench. This made it awkward for me, of course, but I can appreciate your loving spirit. I sometimes worry that you are going to get yourself in a bad situation because of this love for people that you have, but I’ve also witnessed how you can vibe what people are ok to play with. I guess you are like me in that way! I’m a total vibest, as your dad would agree. My prayer for you is that you use your loving spirit to have compassion on others, to have genuine and lasting friendships and to share the love of Jesus that He has so graciously given to us all.

You’ve FINALLY started sleeping through the night! (Insert all the praise hands emojis)! Last month after a long and horrible night with you at Hume Lake, I decided that it was time to wean you completely. I was honestly terrified to wean you from breastfeeding at night because that was the only way to get you to go back to sleep when you woke up at night! I thought it was going to be this long and awful process to get you off the boob, but it only took 3 nights! Through a lot of help from others and mix of this and that technique, what finally worked was just singing our special song to you when you would wake. I must say, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic thinking that you aren’t breathing or something because I haven’t heard you get up at all, but then I remember that you sleep through the night now and I just smile and go back to sleep.

I don’t think you ever stop moving. Truthfully…you are ALWAYS on the move. Whether that be running up to give me a hug or exploring the section of the backyard where I always tell you not to go. Even when we give you your bottle before you head to bed, you are running around in your nightgown, taking sips of your bottle here and there. One of the only times that you are semi-still is when you are flipping through your Disney book that your aunt got you for Christmas. You love that thing. It’s funny to me because your name means, “to be still, to pause, to reflect” and that is not you in the slightest!

You and I hang out every single day and I’m so incredibly thankful for it. I love to see the way you play with your sound machine any chance you get so you can figure out the function of all the buttons. I love hearing the animal sounds you practice in your crib when you are fighting a nap. I love seeing the backlit sun illuminate your baby hairs while we are playing in the backyard. I love discovering who you are. Discovering you is like finding a buried treasure that left a trail of radiant gems to a larger hidden treasure that just never ends. Never stop being you, little one, for you are the best little human I know.

Although you don’t act, look or think like me, I do see one trait of mine that is mirrored in you: we both love each other. There is an unmistakable, unshakeable bond that we share that is completely mutual and something that I wouldn’t trade for the world. Having you as a daughter is the song of my heart.  I love you, Selah True.