Dear Behr, It's Your Birthday

Dear Behr,

Today you cross a significant milestone. It is your first birthday. Leading up to this day, I have been surprisingly unemotional. Rather than getting weepy eyed, I have been begging time to slow down. I will never forget what it was like to hold you as my 8-pound bundle of joy when you were first born. But these days, you are so independent that I already feel like I am forgetting what it was like to hold you as an itty bitty baby in my arms. I am afraid that tomorrow you will be starting college!

But instead of continuing to worry about the future, I want to cherish the present. You are growing and changing so fast. Just the other day, I realized that your voice is already changing a bit. What was once baby coos now can be a full-blown monologue with emotion expressed through changes of tone. You yelp with excitement, huff when you are frustrated, and grunt when you are working your hardest. You are adding new sounds and syllables to your repertoire, all leading to your new independence.

You feed yourself, pull yourself up, and navigate your way across the room, even if it requires moving furniture to push or lean on. You empty boxes and bins and crates only to fill them back up again. You knock things down at every change you get. And Behr, you are a daredevil. I am bracing myself now for bumps and bruises and hospital visits. I am already coming to terms that bungee jumping and sky diving may be in your future as you hurl yourself off high places you climb to on a daily basis. You, sir, are already becoming a man.

Along with your independence, another shift is taking place. You are hooked on your daddy. You follow him everywhere and crane your neck to see him when he is just out of sight. The glee that spreads across your face when he walks in a room is second to none! I joke that you love him more than me. But in reality, I am ecstatic that you look to your dad’s example each step of the way. If he is the only man you ever look up to and learn from, you will be served well. And while I am certain that you will have many influential people in your life over the years to come, I hope and pray that you continue to look up to your dad. He is the best role model I could ever imagine for you.

Behr, we are so proud of you. We thank God for the tremendous blessings you have already brought to our family. We are eager to see what the future holds, excited for each new adventure with you.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Love, momma

and in case you were wondering about that little voice that likes to monologue,

here is what our 30+ minute walking commute has looked like recently:



yup, that's right.

each day we walk instead of bike, it is about 30 minutes of that

did I mention tht I don't like noise?

now you know why I prefer to bike

at least Behr is having fun!

psst. secretly, or not so secretly, I love these monologues.