To Charlotte on her 1st Birthday

A year ago today you quickly took over our world-
and our hearts.
5 pounds of tiny pink baby sweetness
So small
So strong
Looking into depths of wisdom
your big blue eyes staring with newborn wonderment.
Can you remember heaven before you came to us?
How could we be entrusted with something so important, innocent, and perfect?
Love at first sight


The hours we've spent in the middle of the night
Wrapped in dark shadowy quiet.
Rocking, snuggling.
Longing for sleep yet knowing this time is so short.
Our own little world.


"A good set of lungs" the first thing the doctor said.
You cry, squeak, grunt, yell, click, screech, laugh, babble, exclaim.
Something to say long before you found your words.

Papa's clone.
Blue eyes, short blondish hair, tall, smart, a miniature version of his face
A tiny doll in those large hands that love you so.
He woke up at nights to listen to you breathing.
He holds you and plays Enya to comfort you.
He sings you silly songs to trick you into eating.
He worries over every bump, ant bite, and scratch.
Wrapped around your little finger completely.


A mama's girl through and through.
"Mama"
your first sound,
your first word.
My little friend
and constant companion
Together every day of the last year
Afternoon strolls through the neighborhood
Reading you books
Going on outings
"Helping" mama cook, clean, do laundry
Lazy days
Singing in the car
Cherishing this time.


The most important thing I've ever done
To be with you, to watch you grow.
To learn what it means to be selfless.
To care so much more for someone else than you care for yourself.
To know what it means to have someone utterly dependent on you.
Oh how you watch what I do.
I want to teach you to be good, kind and giving, fun and hardworking.
Just as my mother taught me as I watched her.
I desire to be someone worth watching, worth emulating,
Because I see your wise eyes drinking in all that you see.


Personality
bigger than life.
Opinions right from the start.
Always moving, squirming, turning, splashing, jumping, oh the jumping!
Rolling, crawling, pulling up, cruising, walking.
Never still until you droop off to sleep.
Places to go.


From a helpless babe lying on the floor
To a lightning fast crawler discovering your world.
Wanting to cheer and cry as you take the first few steps on your way to toddler hood-
and life.
So fast and so slow this year goes by.


Charlotte-
THE NAME after much debate
petite and feminine,
free
Classic
also known as Tubba bubba, diddle, mini muffin, butten
Charlotte the cute, little human, stinkeroo, cranky pants,
munchkin, sweetie.
To you-


To a wonderful year
the best, hardest, sweetest, most sleepless, most precious,
and most memorable year of our lives.
We stand at the brink between a baby and a toddler
thinking with excitement, terror, and wonder about the years ahead
Our Sweet Baby Charlotte
Oh how we love you.
Happy birthday.

I spent entirely too much time making this video but I wanted to do something fun for Charlotte's birthday so here you go. It's a whopping 5 min. so if you don't make it through it's okay!