Monday, March 29, 2010

Letter to Jenna

Been without a computer for almost two weeks and during that time Jenna turned the big O-N-E, we had two little birthday parties for her, and I came to the realization that I'm no longer the mommy to  baby, but a toddler now.

We started a family tradition with J's first birthday...Mike and I are going to write her a letter every year on her birthday summarizing the year and all the ups and downs.  Although it'll be many years before Jenna will even be able to read it, I think it's something that she'll cherish when she's an adult looking back.

Well this letter was harder than I thought it would be - how can I possibly summarize or even put into words the amazing crazy chaotic and wonderful-ness that this past year has been for us as a family.  I mean, do I go into some of the dirty details of first year parenting...like do I really want to tell my daughter how I cried for 6 weeks when she was first born?? Do I go into details about how hard the sleepless nights really were? Or how she fell from our bed when she was 2 weeks old because I was so exhausted and forgot she was sleeping on me?  And how can I possibly explain how my heart fills with happiness when I look at her dancing in front of the mirror in her room? Or how unexplicably proud I am of her everyday (even on the tough days)?

So my little letter quickly became a little book because after all this thinking about what I want to tell my daughter, I realized that I would've loved if my mom had written me a letter about my first year of life and how they managed and felt.  So the letter is written (not typed because one day she may want to see my actual handwriting) and tucked away until next year when she turns 2 and we set out again to tell her all about her year. 

I'm looking forward to rereading this year's letter on March 22, 2011 and seeing just how far we've come from one to two....

1 comment:

  1. glad you are back up and running with the blog and computer! and what a great idea with the letter! are you writing it in a book? how do you plan to keep them?

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