Dear Lyra,
Happy first birthday!
How has it already been a year? How has it only been a year? I can hardly believe how much you’ve changed since I first met you. You have transformed from a wiggly cone-headed newborn in to a delightfully spunky almost-toddler!
Lately we’ve been giving you a bath as part of your nightly bedtime routine. There is always quite a lot of silliness and singing and splashing. We play little games with the toys while making sound effects that you like to mimic. It’s really fun and makes all of us laugh. You spend most of the time standing up so I’m not sure how much bathing is actually happening. At least your feet are getting a good soak.
This month we took you up to Lake Tahoe twice so your dad and I could go snowboarding. The first time we went with Emerson, Marisa, Seth, and Molly. Unfortunately Emerson came down with a cold and then a few days later you and I did too. Your first cold! You had to put up with getting your nose wiped and suctioned a lot. After all that fussing with your nose and saying “nose”, you started poking yours (or mine or your dad’s) when we said it. Now you also know “tongue” and “teeth” and “toes” and “belly button”. And probably more that we just haven’t yet noticed.
We took a second trip to Tahoe with Nana and Grandad right after your birthday. They watched you while your dad and I hit the slopes. You played blocks and read books and took a cuddly nap in Nana’s arms. One afternoon we took you sledding, which you were neither scared of nor overjoyed with — you look quite skeptical in all the photos. Maybe we’ll try again next year. We are pretty excited to teach you to ski and snowboard some day!
A week after your birthday we had a party for you at an indoor playground. It was wildly fun! About 50 people came to celebrate with us and you loved it, my little extrovert! You delighted in playing with all the toys, crawling up and down the ramp, pushing Emerson around in a wagon, and waving at everyone. Molly made you a little cake and loads of mini cupcakes. After we sang Happy Birthday to you and helped you blow out your candle, you carefully ate raspberries one-by-one from the top of your cake. I encouraged you to go for the frosting and the cake but you were pleased to just continue with the berries.
This year has been such an incredible ride, I can hardly wait to see what the next one has in store. Walking? Talking? Temper tantrums? I guess we’d better buckle up!
Love,
Mama
