Leta,
Happy Second Birthday! You are less and less my little frog baby, and more and more my little girl. You definitely have the hair to prove it. And the sense of humor. You make me smile every day because your comic timing is impeccable.
You still suck your thumb, but you’ve stopped doing this repetitive, grandiose gesture where you’d sweep your thumb into your mouth, then pull it out, your hand rolling your thumb out, your fingers opening then closing as you pull your hand back out and then stick your thumb back in. You would do this about three or four times before it would finally take and you’d settle in for a good bit of thumb. Now it’s right down to business and I miss this cute ritual.
You are such an amazing girl. This past year has been quite a big one for your parents, but you’ve done some really big things yourself. You learned that moving around is a good thing by crawling everywhere and then, over the course of the year, deciding to try out your legs. About three months ago, it looked like the impossible might happen, and in December of 2005, you started walking on your own without your mother or I holding your hand.
Your doctor was worried about your legs, most specifically, your lack of interest in using them. You had an MRI done last spring, just after you turned one. You were brave and very cute coming out of the anesthesia. Your mother and I were laughing pretty hard because you acted drunk. You’ll know more about what that means much later in life. Like when you’re 30 or so. The MRI had good results and showed no problems with your hips, lower back and legs. When your doctor sees you again, he’s going to be impressed.
You know so many words and how to use them. You can recognize letters and numbers. You can ask for help and say “please” and “thank you” most of the time. You are also quite a ham, and know when people are watching you. You play very funny games with your letter books, saying that the “V” is an “A” turning the book upside down as if to prove it and then you say “nooooooo” and laugh hysterically, turning the book back around to make sure I know you really know that it’s a “V”. You are so smart and beautiful and sweet. You get so excited when we go places and experience new things.
You love M&Ms, gum and Italian food. When we cook pizza you will exclaim “PIZZA!!” with a slight lisp as we put it in the oven.
I love you so much and that love grows each day. You are a light in this family. Never ever think that I feel otherwise. I quit my day job this year so that we could live differently, and this included me spending more time with you during the day. This has been a big change for me, but I’ve watched you do so many things that i would have missed otherwise and I wouldn’t change that for anything. I feel privileged to have this opportunity, and I wanted you to know that it’s meant the world to me to be a bigger part of your life the last part of this year.
I love you little frog girl,
Dad
