My Parenting Resolutions
A Year-End Letter to my Two Hearts
Dear Bubby and Lovey.
Where has the year gone, and what changes took place in them? I’ve been horrible about documenting your milestones this year. One that I am soon to correct, but I thought I would take a moment in these final hours of 2012 to share my thoughts on who you both have become this year. A year that that began with one baby and ended with two.
Bubby
As I said to you in the final hours of you being our only child, you will always be my special boy. No matter how many brothers and sisters you may have, you will be unique because you made me a Mom. We have, and always will be, best buds. Yet, I know it was hard for you this year, with all of the changes in your life. I haven’t been happy and I know you have taken the brunt of that. I also haven’t been there for you as much since your baby sister arrived. Added to the fact that your personal space has changed with a new room and a new bed. It could leave any other boy lost and confused, but you always have a smile on your face, and I love seeing it. Every time I see that smile, my heart melts. Every time I hear your cute little voice, my heart sings. Every time I hear you say “Mummy”, my heart soars.
It has been fun to see you learn. Counting and singing. Reciting colors, numbers and letters. You are so proficient in technology and love your iPad and iPhone, but you still love your simple stuffed monkey. I remember you getting your first matchbox/hot wheel car at your Uncle’s wedding. Recently, I had to buy a 20 gallon plastic container to store your favorite cars and trucks because your collection has grown so much. While you still love reading Goodnight Moon and My Mommy and I, you also love your new books: Big Red Barn Big Book,
You went from walking to running, walking the stairs and trying to ride a bike. You also took your first school bus ride, learned yoga and made friends. You went to your first friend birthday party and flew on a plane to Disney World for the second time. You loved going to the playgrounds this past summer, and especially loved the “bouncy, bouncy”, but nothing could top the visits to the Apple Train at Belkin Lookout Farm. You couldn’t live without your Doggy Shirt or Mickey Mouse shirt, and your sleepy-sack. You also love your new Mickey Mouse watch. You enjoy going for walks with Daddy, ringing the doorbell and pushing the “Lion Car” around the neighborhood. Mac and Cheese, pasta with cheese, grilled cheese, ah-bottles, Izzys, and the occasional hot dog make it to your plate or cup. It was fun to see you love going to the farm and picking strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. For once, you ate something that wasn’t cheese.
You have also become an amazing big brother. You love your sister so, and love to make her laugh. I know you wonder how to share your space and toys, but you always wonder where she is and what she is doing. It is my wish that you two will be life-long best friends and so far, you are.
I cannot wait to see what 2013 brings. It will be a busy winter as I try and help you find your place, your footing and your voice. There will be more changes that I know of, and some I probably don’t. Yet, I do know one constant. My love for you is immense, overpowering and beyond what words can express or measure. My goal for 2013 is to be with you more and make you happy. I love you with every part of my being and every year that I get to celebrate a new year with you, makes my life richer because of it.
Lovey
We started 2012 knowing you would arrive, but you gave us many scares along the way. It wasn’t until March that we knew you would be a girl and my whole world changed. Oh, how my world changed. It made my heart fly when I saw your face on the sonogram, and that moment when I found out you were a girl. However, it wasn’t until the day you were born that I realized how lucky I was that you were here, and it will be something that I will never take for granted.
It was a tough few weeks, those early days, as we learned to adjust to our new lives, but I loved those moments with you. Nursing you was our quiet time together, and I was so amazed to hold you in my arms. We have had a lot of fun since then. You took a trip to New York within a few weeks of being born and were on a plane to Disney World by the time you were five months old. You took to traveling because when I was pregnant with you, I went on a lot of blogging trips. So I always feel you can sleep in the car or on the plane because you have been doing it all along. Hopefully, I will be able to say the same for your sleeping at night!
You enjoy your outings to watch big brother at the playground or at the farm, and always have a smile for everyone. You are such a happy baby and your smile, how it lights up your face, is infectious. It has been fun seeing you grow and explore the world around you. Whether it is a new doll or a new toy, you are loving the world around you right now. And your giggles. How they put a smile on your big brother’s face and how seeing him puts a smile on yours. You light up a room, but when I see you, you light up my soul. You were born in the year of the Water Dragon. In Chinese culture, that is amazing fortune. How true that is. My life is rich with every touch of you.
You also love your bottles, and less so the baby food I have been giving you, but maybe that will change in 2013. There will be firsts for you in 2013: first crawl, first steps, and first word. Yet, 2012 brought a lot of firsts – You also had your first bottle, your first giggle, your first poop on the potty. But the absolute first was your first breath. I wasn’t able to hear it, and it is something that will cause me sorrow for years to come, but it has soothed my soul to have been able to hear you, and see you, breathe since then. My love for you fills every breathe I take too, and when I see you, or even see your picture, you truly take my breath away. You, without a doubt, are the wish that my heart made.
Bubby and Lovey, there are only three more hours of 2012; the year and the hours that I won’t get back. It is my hope and dream for 2013, however, that we get more hours and more years ahead to fill with hugs, with laughs, with adventures, and dreams. I am grateful, for every day of 2012, with you both. Despite the challenges of 2012, we were together. We grew as a family. We grew as individuals. And that makes 2012 a wonderful year. I love you both and I cannot wait to celebrate this new year, the year of 2013, and every new year, for many years to come.
Love always,
Mom
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