BB's BLESSING

March 7, 2012

Dear Emily,

You are eight months old.  One short year ago, we had found out that you would be a girl, and that your parents had chosen the name Emily Michelle for you.  A short year ago we were wondering what life would be like with a new baby around.  Now we cannot imagine what our world would be without you.    You have brought so much joy!   A short year ago, I had believed God had blessed my life to the max…then came you.

You are not only the happiest baby that I have ever been around -  you are the happiest person that I have ever been around.  Your smile is infectious… and practically constant.  Your eyes are bright and alert and definitely “flirty.”  You no longer take your bottle in the prone position.  Evidently, you seem to fear that something will happen that you can’t see if you lie down.  You are aware of everything and everyone around you.  You fight sleep (you and I very much have this trait in common…we both seem to think that sleeping is such a waste of time and only succumb when it is unavoidable). 

Yesterday I had a meeting that ended much earlier than expected, and since Tuesday is EMILY DAY, I picked you up early at Miss Peggy’s.  Your mom and Simon had missed school with a nasty virus so I “volunteered” to keep you later than usual.  What a joy!!  You had already had a nap, so you were wide awake and ready to play.  The wagon of blocks, the barrels inside a barrel, and the stacked boxes all belonged to your daddy and Uncle Robert, but now you are enjoying them.  You are not quite up to stacking the boxes or figuring out how to build with the blocks, but it won’t be long.  Right now you mostly enjoy chewing on whatever you have in your hands. 

Playtime, then suppertime.  You tolerated the turkey and rice baby food from the jar, but you really enjoyed your part of my orange sherbet ice cream cone afterwards!  Next it was time for a bath so I stripped off your clothes and set you in the bathroom sink full of warm water.  You splashed and splashed and splashed some more. You seemed to love the massage as I dried you and rubbed you with baby lotion.   No smell in the world is sweeter than a clean baby snuggled into clean pajamas.  

Your smile, your laugh, your hugs and kisses…”you are so wonderful to me….” When I walked into the house after taking you home, the blocks, barrels, and boxes were still scattered in the floor, and your dirty clothes were still lying in the bathroom, but the house seemed so quiet and empty without you the sound of your cooing and laughing.   I felt almost sad.  BUT tomorrow is Thursday and you know what that means!    Thursday is EMILY DAY again.  Hooray!!  What will new and wonderful thing will you do tomorrow?  I can hardly wait to be with you again.