Dear Riley,
Happy 2nd birthday! I’ll refrain from singing, you’ll thank me later. I am literally speechless when I think about you being 2 years old. I think if you read my past letters to you, you will begin to understand my feelings for you, but only when you’ve had your own child will you completely comprehend how deep our bond runs.
Your Daddy and I love to reminisce about your first month or so with us. You were so tiny in the hospital. And smooshy. From the beginning you loved to sleep on your stomach; this scared us both so much since we were so afraid of SIDS. Even now you like to snuggle under the covers on your belly. You still have the same silhouette now as you did when you were small, only bigger.
Turning two brought you much more independence. You want to hold the drink, the toothbrush, and the silverware. You want to do everything by yourself. Sometimes you can’t quite communicate this in any other way than shaking your head violently side to side. The other day we were getting ready to go somewhere and to keep you busy I gave you a pair of shorts to put on. After struggling for several minutes you finally pulled them on and ran around saying, “I did it! I did it! I did it!” All the while double fist pumping the air. You were so proud of yourself. I was so happy for you and we had a mini celebration.
I’ve told you for a while now that your speech has improved. Let me tell you again, your speech is really coming along. You can mimic just about everything we say, including things we shouldn’t say. I can’t count the number of words you know there are so many at this point. You can sing songs, mainly “I love you”, also known as The Barney Song. You can also count to 11. I know you really don’t know what counting is, but you’ve memorized the sequence all the way to 11. You can also count backwards from 5. Anytime you are about to jump somewhere, you count backwards from 5. I think you learned this from cartoons, because I, unfortunately, didn’t teach you.
(A Miss Priss!)
You are so caring. On a short road trip with Aunt Ma and Braxton, you showed how much you love and care about Braxton by checking on him and asking him if he was hungry or thirsty. You also told your Daddy a few days ago, “It’s ok, I’m right here.” Even though you didn’t tell me those words that day, I hang onto those words when I am at work and feeling blue. I am so thankful it’s ok and you are right here. Don’t ever forget you are my world and I too will always be right here.
Love you,
Mama
