Happy Half Birthday

It seems like just yesterday we learned we were going to have another baby, and now here you are sitting up tall and proud, playing with toys and rolling a ball with your big sister, crawling to reach whatever it is that catches your fancy. You are so calm and happy, and yet you cling tightly to your mama. You go happily to most anyone, but feel most at home on my hip. Daddy says you look like my little monkey, because you're so often riding along there, clinging on for dear life. Slow to anger, you are not shy to let us know if you've had enough.

I had a hard time imagining room in my heart to love another baby as fiercely as my first. I'd been told not to worry, that there was plenty of love to go around, and my goodness was that the truth. This little Sugar Plum has wound herself so tightly around my heart that often times I feel it bursting with joy. I stare at you, my dear, in wonder - so strong and at the same time delicate. You light up when you see us and laugh quickly and with abandon. And your first words, "Mama Mama Mama" were such a sweet surprise. Happy half birthday, my dear.