A year has past since I wrote you your first "Birthday letter". At that point, we hadn't had nearly as many experiences together as we have by now. In my first letter, I was reminiscing about how our bond had grown throughout the year. This letter will build on that bond, but will be more about the experiences we have shared together.
It feels like we have done so much! When I consider how you have grown and what you are now capable of, I seriously can't figure out how we got here. One year ago, you only had 8 words in your vocabulary. Today, I would put the estimate around 800 words. You can string together 10-15 word sentences! We have seen sign language come and go (we don't need it anymore). We voted for our Democratic candidate and our new president. We had our first swimming lessons and used our mad swimming skills on our vacation at Lake Charlevoix.
You learned to walk, run, jump, climb and wear your pants on your head. We took our first trip to the Zoo. You obsessed about horses. You made your first best friend (harper) and she moved away. We learned to play the drums in several drum circles. We read countless books together and took many trips to the library. We took countless bike rides and trips to the park. We night weaned and said goodbye to nursing for good. We picked strawberries and apples. You obsessed about blueberries.
We said goodbye to our beloved dog, Stella. We miss her very much.
We had our first Halloween where you dressed up as Olivia. We had real conversations. We sang songs -- today, you even recited the ABC's (but you left out the letter V). We danced. We baked and cooked (cookies and pizza). We enjoyed the snow and went sledding. We celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and your birthday.
Phew. I feel like this list only scratches the surface. Even better, the majority of these experiences were shared with your mother as well. The three of us have had a year packed with wonderful experiences in which we have built a strong foundation for our future as a family.
The coming year will likely provide many more exciting opportunities to write about and photograph our lives together. We will embark on potty training, say goodbye to your pacifier, move you into a "big kid bed", learn to ride a tricycle, make new friends and start to think about pre-school. I can't wait.
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