Dear Bug,
What a year you have had! On your birthday last year, we held a subdued party for you. You had a tube in your nose and didn't have any cake at your own birthday party. It made me so sad. In the year since, you've conquered feeding therapy and shown everyone just what a turnaround looks like.
You've incrementally improved healthwise while at the same time made leaps and bounds developmentally. The number one thing that stands out about you is your verbal ability. You put together sentences with prepositions and participles, and leave the rest of us saying "did he REALLY just say that??" You're a delight to talk to, because you so readily express what's going on in your little mind. You ask a lot of questions, and you answer our questions as well.
You are a big storyteller, just like daddy. There are alligators, hyenas, and barracudas EVERYHWERE. You love lions, Lion King, and Brave. You like to play with cars and your play food in your kitchen. You enjoy playing with Nathan, but sometimes you guys egg each other on just a bit too much. You do love him dearly, though, and express concern for him all the time. If Nathan is hurt, you always ask him if he's okay, and you always give genuine hugs and apologies when you hurt him.
You have an incredible sense of humor, and you particularly love irony. You like Dr. Seuss and any books that have wordplay, which makes me happy. You love noises and are an expert imitator. You often ask "what's that sound?" and if I ask what you mean, you'll imitate it exactly.
You also like active play- you're enjoying swimming, gymnastics, and you love to play basketball. You have quite an arm!
Unfortunately for the rest of us, you're still a really early riser, but most of the time you're sleeping until 6:45, which is at least manageable (except when you are at grandma's, in which case you get up around 5:30).
You have kept us really busy over the past year, but now that we're past the biggest hurdles we are really starting to have time to slow down and enjoy life with you. It's a blast. You are a huge personality packed in a little body, and when your blue eyes sparkle and your nose crinkles as you smile, nothing else matters.
Happy birthday bug, we hope it only gets better every year.
