Your first Year
Dearest Isaiah,
I can barely bring myself to write this letter. My eyes well up with tears of joy just thinking about your first year on Earth. This year with you has flown by- you have grown so fast.
You have just begun talking, a lot! It just came out of nowhere! All of the sudden after months of teaching you sign language- you have started to sign more accurately and speak the word at the same time! You love to say Dada and Dad, and you sign it all the time as well. Sometimes you pick up the phone and say and sign Dad. It's amazing how smart you are. Your second favorite word is "dog". You pronounce it "dot" with a hard "t" at the end. You sign dog whenever you see a dog, or almost any other animal! Some mornings you wake up and you point to your poster where there is a picture of a dog and say "dot"! And of course you say Mom and Mama and sign that as well- but not as much as dot and dad. The other day you did the sign for bear. When I point to Pooh and ask you what he is- you sign bear. Along with all the previous words we taught you like eat, more, and all done, you now sign wash hands. You will repeat words that we say out of the blue. The other day we were at the park and you were playing in the sand. I asked you if you were having fun playing with sand and you said "sand" with amazing clarity. It's amazing how fast you soak up everything. We really have to watch what we say these days! When we say "S" words like Shoes or Socks, you say "shhhhh" like you are trying to say it too. We have figured out that saying "Yayaya" to you is a real conversation starter. You'll say it back and then add on a whole other gibberish paragraph. One time we had a 5 minute conversation, but I had no idea what we said! When it gets too quiet in the car we'll say, "Isaiah, yayaya!" and a spirited conversation will start. We just love hearing your little baby voice- all the highs and lows and the happy chatter makes us smile.
I can barely bring myself to write this letter. My eyes well up with tears of joy just thinking about your first year on Earth. This year with you has flown by- you have grown so fast.
You have just begun talking, a lot! It just came out of nowhere! All of the sudden after months of teaching you sign language- you have started to sign more accurately and speak the word at the same time! You love to say Dada and Dad, and you sign it all the time as well. Sometimes you pick up the phone and say and sign Dad. It's amazing how smart you are. Your second favorite word is "dog". You pronounce it "dot" with a hard "t" at the end. You sign dog whenever you see a dog, or almost any other animal! Some mornings you wake up and you point to your poster where there is a picture of a dog and say "dot"! And of course you say Mom and Mama and sign that as well- but not as much as dot and dad. The other day you did the sign for bear. When I point to Pooh and ask you what he is- you sign bear. Along with all the previous words we taught you like eat, more, and all done, you now sign wash hands. You will repeat words that we say out of the blue. The other day we were at the park and you were playing in the sand. I asked you if you were having fun playing with sand and you said "sand" with amazing clarity. It's amazing how fast you soak up everything. We really have to watch what we say these days! When we say "S" words like Shoes or Socks, you say "shhhhh" like you are trying to say it too. We have figured out that saying "Yayaya" to you is a real conversation starter. You'll say it back and then add on a whole other gibberish paragraph. One time we had a 5 minute conversation, but I had no idea what we said! When it gets too quiet in the car we'll say, "Isaiah, yayaya!" and a spirited conversation will start. We just love hearing your little baby voice- all the highs and lows and the happy chatter makes us smile.
You said your first spoken name yesterday. You said, "Ella". She is your little friend down the street. She's almost 2 years old. Mama is good friends with her mom, Meredith. You have always liked Ella- you try to follow her everywhere and always want to touch her. I think she is your first crush, so how fitting it is that you would say her name first!
Your most prized possesions is your musical Snoopy. You love him so much- this was one of your first toys and maybe the reason you love "dots" so much! He is so filthy dirty- I have washed him so many times that he is falling apart! Even after washing him, he still looks filthy. He's so worn out that he doesn't even play music consistently anymore. He played twinkle twinkle little star. You usually sleep with him- when you go to bed- you army crawl over to him and lay on him or put your hand on him. He's your little lovie. Some mornings I know you're awake because I hear the sweet melody of Twinkle Twinkle, and your little voice talking to Snoopy. When you see him, you immediately crawl over to get him and you drag him all over. Your Ama had to give him stitches because his nose was falling apart. Snoopy is your best pal. When Mommy and Daddy can't console you, I give you Snoopy and you hug him so tight- and it helps you calm down.
One of your favorite things to do is go on the swing at the park. I have never seen a baby show so much delight! You laugh, kick your feet, giggle and scream! You love looking at other kids and are always pointing to them. You could swing for hours if I let you. I love our times at the park together. When your daddy had some time off of work he took you to the park- just you and him. I was sick for 3 weeks, so your daddy got to spend a lot of one on one time with you. He loved it so much. He loves you so much. He said he didn't want to go back to work because he said he would miss us too much and he kept saying what a special little guy you were. It made my heart swell.
I didn't think this was possible, but you get even more attention when we go out then you did before! Shopping always takes extra long because people stop to talk to you and admire how cute you are! It is so much fun now because you wave hello and bye bye to people. You point to people and talk to them and offer them your grubby cheerios by sticking out your chubby little hand. You laugh when they make faces at you and they can't help but want to touch your cheek or your hand (I always carry wipes and antibacterial gel in my purse for this reason!). EVERY TIME I go out with you someone says, "That's the happiest baby I've ever seen." You love going to stores and looking around. Two things that you love seeing in particular are balloons and bears! You point and say "oooh" when you see either. When I let you hold a bear- you hug it so tight, it takes so much restraint to keep from buying every single one! You like all stuffed animals, but bears and "dots" are your favorite.
Your most prized possesions is your musical Snoopy. You love him so much- this was one of your first toys and maybe the reason you love "dots" so much! He is so filthy dirty- I have washed him so many times that he is falling apart! Even after washing him, he still looks filthy. He's so worn out that he doesn't even play music consistently anymore. He played twinkle twinkle little star. You usually sleep with him- when you go to bed- you army crawl over to him and lay on him or put your hand on him. He's your little lovie. Some mornings I know you're awake because I hear the sweet melody of Twinkle Twinkle, and your little voice talking to Snoopy. When you see him, you immediately crawl over to get him and you drag him all over. Your Ama had to give him stitches because his nose was falling apart. Snoopy is your best pal. When Mommy and Daddy can't console you, I give you Snoopy and you hug him so tight- and it helps you calm down.
One of your favorite things to do is go on the swing at the park. I have never seen a baby show so much delight! You laugh, kick your feet, giggle and scream! You love looking at other kids and are always pointing to them. You could swing for hours if I let you. I love our times at the park together. When your daddy had some time off of work he took you to the park- just you and him. I was sick for 3 weeks, so your daddy got to spend a lot of one on one time with you. He loved it so much. He loves you so much. He said he didn't want to go back to work because he said he would miss us too much and he kept saying what a special little guy you were. It made my heart swell.
I didn't think this was possible, but you get even more attention when we go out then you did before! Shopping always takes extra long because people stop to talk to you and admire how cute you are! It is so much fun now because you wave hello and bye bye to people. You point to people and talk to them and offer them your grubby cheerios by sticking out your chubby little hand. You laugh when they make faces at you and they can't help but want to touch your cheek or your hand (I always carry wipes and antibacterial gel in my purse for this reason!). EVERY TIME I go out with you someone says, "That's the happiest baby I've ever seen." You love going to stores and looking around. Two things that you love seeing in particular are balloons and bears! You point and say "oooh" when you see either. When I let you hold a bear- you hug it so tight, it takes so much restraint to keep from buying every single one! You like all stuffed animals, but bears and "dots" are your favorite.
You are standing on your own two feet now. You don't walk yet, but everyone says- "pretty soon"! When we hold your hand you can walk- a little ways- you're so happy when you're crusing along! The thing your daddy and I love most is to see you dance! You do this back and forth head thing that looks just like Stevie Wonder when he sings! Now when we tell you to "do Stevie" you do it, and we never get tired of seeing it! Sometimes when daddy gets home, the three of us put on some music and dance our butts off! You're so jolly and goofy when you do it- it's so cute to see you try to imitate us!
If I had to choose one word to descibe you it would be: delightful. You are the most delightful little guy! You smile and laugh so easily. You started to laugh at 3 months. It started as a sweet little giggle and not long after, a full on hearty chuckle. It was so much fun to see this tiny little baby laugh with such glee. Sometimes you and I will just look at each other and laugh for no apparent reason (to me anyway)…just a boy and his mom, giggling at each other. I’ve never felt that sort of happiness before.
Isaiah this has been the most incredible year of my life! I've never been so full of life and love. I've never loved your father more! He is so amazing to both of us! You couldn't have asked for a better father, and I couldn't have ask for a better husband. I see so much of him in you. You definately have his personality- good natured, funny, sweet and easy going. You've shown us so much, you've taught us so much. You've opened up a whole new world to us! I want to remember everything about your babyhood. I wish I could burn every single thought, sight, sound and smell into my mind...the roundness of your cheek, your wet baby kisses, how your head smells like sweet Hawaiian bread. It's gone so fast and you are now a little boy. But you'll always be my baby.
Happy 1st Birthday my sweet boy! I love you more than words can say.
Love,
Mama
