24 months

obviously, i'm super late in posting this.  sorry, baby girl!  sometimes, being the 5th child means you have to deal with delays.

to our dearest baby, baby girl,

on august 6 you turned 2 years old. it's so hard to imagine that 2 years have past since you were a teeny-tiny little thing.  i look at you know, with your adorable, chubby legs, and i can't believe that at one point you were light as a feather in my arms.

your brothers and sister were SO excited to celebrate your birthday.  emma had spent a few weeks preparing for the celebration by making many, little gifts, just for you.  did you know you are loved tremendously by them?

you have changed and developed so much in the past year.  you learned to walk, shortly after we moved into our house in seattle. you learned to gallop (which is SO cute, by the way), and put on a dance show.  and then there was the talking.  i mean, you already said a few words here and there by the time you were one, but this was just a word explosion.  BAM!  so much chatter.  i really enjoy observing you and your siblings converse with each other.

you don't like being left out of the group, and strive to keep up with the bigger kids.  you're sweet and kind, but full of sass when you want to be. it's pretty clear when you get an answer you don't want to hear.  i can see that you may possess a decent mix of stubbornness and determination...qualities that may prove to be helpful in the future.  right?

i love that you still love to snuggle and cuddle with me (though not as frequent), with that thumb in your mouth.  always with that thumb in your mouth. but it's so cute!  you even like to "share" your thumb with people.  it's the sweetest thing.

we hope that you felt loved on your special day, because you are loved.  we're so glad we can be your mommy and daddy, and we're looking forward to seeing how you will grow.

happy birthday!  we love you so very much!

love,

mommy and daddy