Taking on the World, One Smile at a Time

Dear Liddy,

I have found that children's books hold much wisdom between their well loved pages. Some of my very favorite books when I was a child myself are still the ones that I have read to Caleb, and will someday read to you. Winnie the Pooh, which taught me about friendship, differences, and unconditional love. Charlotte's Web, that taught me that every day miracles do happen, and that even something we fear can be a thing of beauty in itself. The Velveteen Rabbit, which taught me about the magic that comes from truly loving someone. I never read a whole lot of Dr. Suess when I was little but when Caleb was little we read quite a few of his books. By far my favorite was, and still is, "Oh! The Places You Will Go." And I just want you to know, baby girl, that I simply can not wait to see the places that YOU will go either......

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.  And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets.  Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry.  Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

I know..without a single doubt...that you are going to take on the world. With your sass, your spunk, and your radiant smile you are going to capture the hearts of many. And that may be your greatest gift. :) 

I had a long talk with my dear friend, Joy, the other night and while we were talking about you, she said, "Heidi, you have changed so much since Lydia was born." She's absolutely right. That change is you. I see things so clearly that I never took the time to see before.

I wake up with a smile on my face and lay in bed listening to the bright and bubbly chatter emanating from your bassinet. I am the overjoyed recipient of your beaming smile when I lean over to pick you up. You laugh at me, laughing at your silly faces..and I just KNOW that you are going to be a little clown, always making everyone laugh. 

You absorb everything around you like a little sponge, and Heaven forbid I should start to worry that you won't do this or do that, because even though I never say those things in front of you, you just seem to know. Within a short amount of time, you will PROVE ME WRONG every single time. I love that! One of these days I will get it through my thick head that I should never doubt you. You are absolutely amazing!

This week you have:

~Become a pro at grabbing your toes and holding onto them for dear life. You are even working on putting that chubby little big toe in your mouth.

 ~Eaten baby food and cereal the last few days. I'm glad that I waited a little bit longer, even though we've already tried to do this before. You just weren't quite ready the first run time and seemed to get very little actually IN you. All of a sudden, you are eating from a spoon like a pro. Well, like a pro 5 month old. lol

~Learned to blow raspberries...usually with a mouthful of food. :P

 

~Gotten even better at head control, arm control, AND hand control. You can grab your favorite keys, shake them around, switch them from hand to hand, and even are starting to throw them around. You can hold your head up proud and strong for minutes at a time, and are beginning to hold yourself up for small amounts of time on your arms.

~Allowed quite a few different people to hold you...some that you hardly know or who you don't know at all. That is a tremendous stride for you! I think partly you are doing it just to prove me wrong. lol All that worrying for nothing! But I am overjoyed to see you enjoying the people who love you so much, and allowing them to enjoy you too! :)

I'm so proud of the bright and beautiful girl that you are, Lydia Anne. And I know that I say that all the time, but I feel compelled to say it again and again. :) I want you to never forget, and to always know exactly how much your family loves you....or how very blessed we are to have you in our lives. 

All of my love,

Mommy