15 Month Letter

Dear Tree Faerie,

 

As each month passes, time seems to be gaining speed.  It seems like only yesterday I was writing your 14-month letter!  I sometimes want to wrap my arms and legs around you and cry, “No!  Slow down!  You’re growing up too fast!”

 

But I don’t.  Instead I try to help you grow and learn in every way I can.  Most of the time I feel like I’m simply trying not to get in the way of your learning processes.  I let you fall down, which is why your knees are bruised, but I’m also there to help you back up when you’re struggling.  You struggle much less now, although you still fall down quite a bit because you’ve been practicing running.  When you do fall, you recover quickly and rarely actually cry out, even when everyone around you knows the fall should have hurt you.  Sometimes you even giggle!  It is wonderful to see that my efforts to curb my reaction and let you decide how to react for yourself is paying off.

 

Of course this also proves yet again that you are your own person.  I’m glad that you are teaching me this lesson slowly from the beginning, because I can see how easy it would be to fall into the trap of thinking you are like me.  In many ways you are like me, and in many more ways you are not.  I am so proud of you for that.  No matter what life lessons you walk away with, the most important lesson to me is the ability to think for yourself and be confident in your decisions.  I also want you to be responsible and accountable for those decisions.  I want you to be a whole person, and from the view I have now, you are not going to have any problem with that.

 

I even let you pick your own outfit this morning.  You see, I’m often indecisive and have trouble committing to a decision because I argue with myself so well.  Today is picture day at daycare, and I wanted you to look really cute for your pictures.  Now, I know that you always look cute – of that there is no doubt.  I just wanted to be able to look back and not think, “Oh, I wish I had put her in Outfit B instead of Outfit A.”  Since I just bought you knew 18-month clothing, you haven’t worn most of it, thus I don’t know which outfit looks the best on you yet.  I couldn’t decide between 2 outfits, so I let you pick.  It turns out that you were right.  I doubted your pick, so I went ahead and put Outfit B on you.  I changed my mind within minutes and put you in the outfit you picked, which was a much better choice.  I’m glad to see you have a better fashion sense than your dear mother.  Hopefully you can help me dress later.

 

Since we’re on the subject of clothing, I must say that I did not realize dressing you appropriately would be so stressful to me.  You seem to have your daddy’s figure – long and lean.  You’re 29 inches tall, but you weigh right around 20 pounds.  This means that your 12-month pants are just starting to fit your waist, but now you’re too tall for them!  Some of them actually look like they are capris, when in fact they are supposed to be normal length.  So, I hit the Kidstown Consignment Spring Sale and scored at least $200 worth of clothes for only $50.  I’ve been putting you mostly in 18-month clothing since then, though I need to tack the waistbands on the pants to keep them from falling down.

 

This month was also your second Ostara celebration, and while I thought you might actually take part in the egg hunt, that didn’t happen.  Because you refused to nap before we got to the park, you crashed out on me until the egg hunt started.  The bigger kids had already picked up most of the eggs, so we walked around picking up trash.  Thankfully you seemed just fine with that, especially since it was your idea.  Despite the wind and the cold, we had a really good time.  As always, you were a hit.  Everyone just loves you!

 

Speaking of those who love you, I love seeing the look of love and pride your daddy gets on his face when you squeal in greeting.  Sometimes he doesn’t get to come home until we’re getting ready for bed, and quite often you search for him several times over the course of the evening.  When he finally does come home, you squeal and light up at the sound of his voice.  It really warms my heart to see how much you love your daddy, because I love him that much, too.

 

You also got to see your Uncle J this month.  Since he hasn’t seen you in about a year, you really knocked his socks off.  He kept commenting about how smart and cute you are.  I’m glad you got to see him, and I’m really glad it was a good visit.

 

Tree Faerie, you mean the world to me.  While I do plan to give you a sibling some day, I really enjoy learning and growing with you right now.  I am in no rush, and I hope you are not either.  I will do everything I can to protect you while still allowing you to blossom.  I love you more than I could ever come close to describing, so I will do my best to show you every day.

 

Hugs and Kisses,

Mama

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