Eleven Months

My Dearest Joslyn,

The past month with you has been an extra special one for a few reasons. The first one being the celebration of your very first Christmas with us. In case you're reading this and haven't already figured it out, your mama LOVES Christmas. It is the be all and end all of special holidays for me, and it just got about a thousand times better having celebrated it with you this year. As if there isn't already enough to be thankful for, we are eternally grateful to have you with us.


Christmas day was perfect. You gave your daddy and I the best gift of all. You slept in until 10:30. That's right . . . ten-thirty! It gave your dad and I the opportunity to wake up, pour ourselves a coffee, start breakfast, open some gifts that we'd picked out for each other, and enjoy a few hours of quiet time. It was the perfect start to our day, and so we can't thank you enough. The best part about this however was the fact that as soon as you got up, we were prepared to make the rest of our morning all about you!


We weren't too sure exactly how much you'd be into Christmas this year, being as young as you are and all. But you completely surprised us. Presents were a lot of fun. More so for the wrapping and boxes than anything else, as your favorite part was ripping the paper off piece by piece. With each rip of the paper, you'd let out a big "WOW!" as if what you'd just done was the most thrilling thing in the world. It gave us as first-time parents the opportunity to see Christmas through a new set of eyes. We really took notice of the little things that perhaps we wouldn't normally see, and only because you'd brought them to our attention. You took to Christmas like a real trooper. There were a lot of late nights, a lot of family in mega-stuffed rooms, and some not-too-familiar faces popping up to see you. But guess what? That's what makes Christmas so special. The bringing of loved ones together to give thanks, and honey we are truly blessed by all that we get to experience with our loved ones during the holidays.


A few of your favorite gifts were 2 baby dolls you'd received. The first of many I am sure. We honestly didn't think you'd know what to do with dolls just yet, figuring you were a little too young for them, but your reaction was just amazing. Right from the first moment you laid your hands on them, you put them over your shoulder. Rocking them. Cuddling them. Kissing them. Swaying back and forth while saying "AWE ...". I'm not sure where you've learned this, other than seeing how we are towards you, but it is quite amazing that you knew just what to do with them! A little mommy at heart we see.


You have found a great love this month of imitating everything and anything we say or do. You follow us around the house watching our every move. If we stomp the floor, you stomp the floor. If we make a kissing noise, you make a kissing noise. If we cluck our tongues, you cluck your tongue too. If we say something, you repeat it to the best of your ability with the same number of syllables. Interesting! As a result of this, you and I have developed our own little way of carrying on a conversation. One where I think you really believe we are communicating with each other. It starts by either you or I saying a word that only has one syllable. It then continues going back and forth between us, saying another word that sounds just like the last. It goes something like this:

Mommy - "Up"
Joslyn - "Dup"
Mommy - "Hop"
Joslyn - "Dop"
Mommy - "Hip"
Joslyn - "Kip"

. . . and so on. These little one syllable conversations could go on forever. You just love trying to repeat something you've heard. It's really very cute.


A few other things we've discovered this month is that you love to be sung to in the car. By that I don't mean throwing on one of the several Sesame Street CD's we have for you to listen to. No. I mean you want US to sing to you! Can you imagine?! All I can say Joslyn is this. It is reeeally bad. Especially your father. (sorry honey) It would be one thing if we either A) didn't know all of the words, B) sang completely out of tune, or C) had zero timing & rhythm, but unfortunately for you my dear, we are clearly D) all of the above. My guess is that the reason our singing keeps you quiet is because you're trying to figure out how we've just run over a pack of squirrels for the thousandth time in our car. It's just us sweetheart, and I'm sorry. :-(


On January 9th we had you Baptized. We hadn't intended to wait as long as we did to have it done, but we were just having way too much fun with you that time slipped away from us in a heartbeat. It was important to your father and I for you to be Baptized, so we are very glad it's now been done. This month you have really started clapping your hands. If someone says anything remotely close to "Yay!", you start to clap. Your favorite word is "WOW!" but you also said "All done" a bunch of times this month. You have a new obsession with rearranging the kitchen furniture. You love to push the chairs around the kitchen, and to also push your highchair back to its spot against the wall once you're done eating.


I can't believe that the next letter I'll be writing to you will be for your first birthday. Sometimes I look at you in awe, turn to your father and say "I grew her". "I. GREW. her". I just can't believe how far you've come and how much you've grown, and in such a short about of time. No longer the little baby, now with your own "babies", you're turning into a little girl. One that I just couldn't be more proud of.

Love,
Your Mama Bear