One

Dear Emma,
Words cannot express how you have changed my life since you joined our family. You are the little girl I always dreamed of, the one I get to play dressup with, the one who makes my heart soar when I see your smile. And while I have to say that your brother is just as special to me, this is your letter so I'm going to talk about you and you only.

The past year has been one of the happiest of my life. Part of that comes from being healthier mentally, but a large part comes from your being such a happy, easygoing and lovable little person. You have obliged me this year by being slow about hitting your milestones, and I've been able to watch you not only as you suddenly burst into a new word or sign but watch the progressions up to that as well.

You slept through the night at 2 weeks. You constantly have a smile on your face. You LISTEN when I say no! Like, seriously, when you reach for something and I tell you no, you drop it or pull your hand away. You smile when I walk into the room, you reach your hands to me to be picked up, you wave bye bye and say bye at the same time. Dog was your first word (which has definitely pleased your animal-lover mom). You sign more, hi, bye, please, thank you, milk and eat, and you say bye, dog, Luh (Lucky), pillow, Aasssh (Ash) and cat.

You sleep like your father and are hard to wake up in the morning. When I get you up, you shake like you're freezing and it takes at least 20 minutes for it to stop. When I put you on the floor you will spend 20 minutes putting things in a box and taking them back out again. You entertain yourself and giggle at things you do by yourself. The hamster bit your finger once a few months ago and you will now touch only the green part of the cage, not the wire part. You LOVE your piano and not only play it with total abandon, you dance like nobody's watching. You dance to anything - even if I just say the word dance, you start dancing.

You are so easy to take anywhere - whether you've had a nap or not, whether you've eaten or not, whether your diaper is dirty or clean, you never fuss. The only time you get upset is when you fall down or are so tired you just can't take it anymore. You climb stairs, cruise along furniture, splash in the tub and help me dress you.

But most of all, you make me happy. Your beautiful eyes and your smile light up my life. I can't wait to go in your room in the morning and I miss you when you sleep. I ask Grandma to send me pictures in the middle of the day so I can see what you're up to.

And I can't wait to see what you become.

Happy birthday, Ping.

Love, Mommy