Dear Savannah,
My heart is heavy as I sit down to write this letter to you. So full of love, I would swear it is about to burst. It has taken me three days to find the time to sit down and write this letter- just to give you an idea of how busy our house has become! On Saturday night, your real birthday, I was singing the Happy Birthday song to you. You could NOT get enough of it. You kept asking me to sing it over and over, so of course I complied. Who could say no? After a while you tired of that game and went off on your way. Not too much later, though, you could be heard singing that same song to yourself. "Happy Birthday to you, Sanare." But that wasn't enough- you sang to Daddy, your baby dolls, Barney, your kitty- anything or anyone that crossed your path was graced with a beautiful rendition of that song. And my heart grew a little bit more.
You are becoming so independent. Where you used to want to be held and have a companion at all times, you are now a little more content to play by yourself. Maybe this is what comes with having a new baby in the house, you are forced to self-entertain. Now that the weather is getting nicer (by not having 80+ degree days all the time) we are going to be outside so much more, which I know is okay by you. You LOVE the outdoors. For Christmas we put together a play area for you out there, and we expanded it for your birthday. You now have a playhouse, your sandbox has new sand and you have a slide and a swing! It's perfect for you.
We had your birthday party yesterday. It was crazy busy, and I felt like I as so busy with everything that I didn't even get to enjoy it with you... but you had a blast and that is what was important. Grace and Caleb came down, and Aunt Jaime and Uncle Shawn brought Madalyn so you had a lot of fun playing with all of your cousins. It is so fun to see you all together- the age gap is so small between you all (especially from you to Caleb to Madalyn) and I know it will just be that much more fun in a few years.
I wasn't sure how you would handle everyone singing to you. Last year you cried and cried when everyone sang- you, like me, hate being the center of attention. But I had been singing to you all week, trying to prepare you for it. Luckily there were no tears, just this:
Your embarrassed face. You tucked your chin in to your chest and just sat there until the song was blessedly over. You always love to mimic me, when I blow out candles around the house so I figured you'd at least get that one. But no, you just stared at the flickering lights until I blew them out for you. Last year, you were not very sure about your cake. But over the last 12 months you have developed a wicked sweet tooth (gee, I wonder where that comes from!) and dug right in.
Afterwards, we headed back outside. You and the others had been outside for most of the day, aside from eating, presents and cake. But it was the first time I managed to get outside. Luckily Aunt Jaime fell in love with my camera so she was more than happy to play the role of photographer (in between taking 100+ photos of Madalyn!)
We were lucky enough to have perfect weather yesterday. The sun was shining, there was hardly a cloud to be seen. When we moved in last year we decided that we had moved to the windy-est place ever. Then we realized it is just this time of year. We had a great breeze so it was ideal for you guys and being out back. You all had so much fun.
You never fail to amaze me these days. You are so bright, so observant. Nothing gets past you. Your mind is a sponge. The other day you showed me a picture of an owl, called it an owl and then proceeded to tell me that the owl was scary. I don't know if you have ever seen an owl before, I certainly don't remember pointing one out to you. But there it was. And this happens all the time, you showing me something that I had no idea you'd ever seen before and you know what it is.
You can count to ten. Sometimes you leave out 5 and 6, but they are all in there. You sing the ABC song. You know your colors. You love to sing songs, even if they don't have any words. You mimic me all the time, from motions I make to the inflection of my voice. If I say something to you in a sing-songy voice, you do it too. Everyone makes fun of me for my "monkey feet"- long, skinny toes. Both you and Landon have my feet. I often will pick things up with my toes, and I've noticed you starting to do it, too. You crack me up on a daily basis.
You are so compassionate. You worry about everyone. Your favorite movie right now is Monster's, Inc. When the monsters seem sad, you turn to me and ask me, "Monster okay?" and you will repeat the question until I reassure you that the monster is, in fact, okay. In Finding Nemo, when Marlin gets upset at Nemo at the beginning, you are so worried for Nemo. When Landon is fussing, you come over and look at him and tell him, "It's okay Landon."
You absolutely dote on your baby brother. There is no jealousy there, just absolute love and adoration. You always want to hold him, to stroke his hair, to hold his hand. You repeat what you hear me say to him. You love to kiss him and hug him. I'll be in the kitchen and hear you talking to him- "Hi sweet boy. Hi Landon. What a sweet boy," just like I say to him. These are the moments that reduce me to mush. I just melt when I hear you loving on your brother.
You are such a sweet girl. You are my light, and you absolutely brighten up every minute of my day. You might not smile much for the camera, but there is nothing as cute as your pearly whites when you smile at me. You amaze me daily, and I still cannot believe you are mine. And now you are two. And what fun this next year is going to be.
I love you, Nanner toots.
Love, Mama
