Dear Rachel,

Today, you turn one year old.

This is a big milestone for you, albeit one that you won’t remember. It’s also a milestone for your mommy and me, because a year ago, we didn’t know anything about being parents. We still don’t know much, but we think we’ve done a pretty good job with you so far.

You’re going to have a big party today, and your Grandpa Rick and Grandma Connie even flew down from Illinois to see you on your birthday. Lots of our family and friends are going to come over and help us celebrate.

This past month has been one of steady progression for you. You’re furniture surfing all the time now, and have even started going between furniture that’s close enough to each other. You pull yourself up and anything that doesn’t move, including the kitchen cabinets (which you just love to open and bang shut), the windows in the living room, walls, your closet doors, and your parents if we happen to be standing still. It’s just a matter of time before you start standing on your own, and from there, walking. Then we’re in big trouble.

You’ve gotten completely off the bottle in the last month, and it wasn’t a gradual thing. One day you took it, the next day you screamed like I’d poked your eye out when I tried to give it to you. From then on, it’s been sippy cups the whole way. Now, instead of laying in my lap in the morning drinking your bottle, you sit in your high chair and eat.

Speaking of which, you’re feeding yourself now. While that gives us more time to eat ourselves, it actually makes more work for us with the mess you produce. Pretty much everything has to go on your tray so you can pick it up, but occasionally you’ll let us give you things on a spoon or fork. With this new found freedom, you’ve also become very picky about what you want to eat, and fruits and veggies are not part of what you like to eat.

You are starting to communicate with us more, and you talk all the time…it’s just that we don’t understand what you’re saying. You make noises in response to certain words or phrases, like when you see your milk, you’ll go “Ahhhhhh” the same sound you make when you drink it. You’ll bark (AH! AH!) when you hear the dog or we say his name, and I swear I heard you say “I love you” when I said that it to you last week. Maria heard it too, so I know I wasn’t hallucinating. You also do things in response to certain words, like giving kisses (which I just love getting from you) and doing “ojitos.” Your newest thing is imitating what you hear. We went for a walk the other day and the dog was panting, and you started panting just like him!

We can’t believe that you’ve been with us for a whole year, and we’re really looking forward to the next year. You’ll learn to walk and run, talk and be able to tell us what you’re feeling, and start to take care of yourself more. We never knew our lives could be so full.

We love you so much. Happy birthday, mija!