First Birthday Cake
Dear Julian -
Before you and Luca came into our family, I don't think your dad and I had any real clue about how much goes on in the first year of a boy's life. You have been transformed from a sweet, screechy, curled up newborn to an equally sweet, mobile person over the course of just 12 months.
Things are different for you than they were for your brother. You have eaten more dirt in a day than Luca ever ate in a year. Everything goes in the mouth and I'm not always close enough to catch you before you grin up at me with a brown, gritty smile. Your world is noisier and your mother less patient than the first go around, but all of this will make you who you are. And who you are is perfect.
You give the best hugs. They feel like gifts. You have so many teeth! And those pretty blue eyes in your big Allen head get you noticed every day. You're stealthy and a little impish, capable of humor and ferocity. You have entertaining habits, like smushing yourself into pillows and down comforters - a practice that dad has dubbed "murgling." Every dog, cat, squirrel, and bird captivates you and elicits some window banging to get their attention.
You and your brother crack each other up and pick on each other and couldn't do without one another. You are never happier than when you first see him in the morning, but you are also never happier than when you have time without him in the house so that you can play with all the toys he won't usually let you get near.
We can't imagine a day without you, little Ju Ju Bee. Happy first birthday!
Love Mommy, Daddy & Luca
Looks yummy, right?
Brrr!
Bathtime shenanigans
Meditations on Mommy's Coffee Cup
