dear henry,

the other day you were having some great independent play time.  as much as i wanted to climb inside your play area to role the ball and stack blocks with you, i decided to hang back.  watching you explore  is one of my favorite pastimes. you were so funny talking and seeing what toys fit where. sometimes you make up a little song when you talk to or about your hands, food or toys. 

i dream and worry a little about how you will turn out.  this is that time when almost every parent looks at their baby and sees the potential of what things could be.  they stress about if their child is learning well and how to encourage their children to explore while keeping them out of the emergency room. i am trying not to be one of those stressed out moms.  its hard because you have no fear.  you climb the stairs as fast as you can, only looking back to see if i am following you.  you climb up and down grunting the whole time as if you are exerting all the energy you have … yet you still have plenty.  you, my dear, are a bottomless pit of energy. 

henry, “they” were right.  you are growing right before my very eyes.  my mom used to say that she wanted to tie a brick to our heads so we wouldn't grow anymore and now i understand what she meant.  it seems like yesterday that you started crawling and now you walk almost everywhere you go.  when you do crawl, you do this thing with your arms and shoulders that make me laugh out loud. 

you have been throwing a few tantrums lately trying to deal with all the big emotions in such a little body.  you don't quite understand why we tell you "no."  you have been doing the "gimme" hands which looks a lot like when you wave "bye bye."  most of the time it means "pick me up please" or "more cheerios" but sometimes we cannot figure it out and you get a little mad.  after a few tries of giving you the wrong thing, i can see it in your eyes ... you are wondering why the devil we cant understand you and get it right.  sometimes you refuse to eat off a spoon because you are dying to be independent and feed yourself.  usually your meltdowns last less than a minute and then you’re off again with the walking and singing.    

i would love to say that you are a momma’s boy but i don’t thinks that’s the case.  you love your daddy so much and it shows when you look at him.  you smacked him in the face a few times this week because he wasn’t looking when you discovered something neat.   his approval and attention means a lot to you.  you giggle when he puts silly things on his head and then you try and do the same. your favorite is when he flies you around the house like superman.  

henry, your daddy and i love you very much.  i am looking forward to our life with you.  we are so blessed!

love, 
momma