Dear Sloane: February 2019

Dear Sloane,

I know I always say this, but time keeps going too fast! I just put you to bed tonight. We were sitting in your rocker, and your head was laying on my shoulder. We were both snuggling Rabs, and I thought for the umpteenth time, just how lucky I am to be your mom! I hope I always remember what it feels like to have your sleeping weight up against me.

This month we celebrated your first birthday! It came upon us all in a flash! You are turning into such a beautiful little girl. We constantly say, "You're so sweet, Sloane Hannah!" You're beginning to have your own personality, taking risks (like climbing the stairs), playing tricks (like pretending you're going to feed us a piece of food, and then when we lean in, taking it away and eating it yourself!), and disobeying (like looking at us when you know you're doing something wrong, we say "no" and you just smile and go for it!)!

A big part of your first year, was your love for Sandra Boyton board books! One of our favorites is Hippos Go Berserk. Any time we read a story with a hippo, you always stop to point to it! That book was the inspiration for your first birthday party! We originally were planning your party at a park, but the rain and cold forced us inside to our house.

The party was SO fun! We had nearly 60 people come! Everyone wanted to be a part of celebrating the first year of you!

But your favorite people at the party were your cousins and family! They were excited to be here, too!

When it was time for cake, we all gathered together to sing you "happy birthday." You did good as everyone sang! I was worried you'd cry, but you just looked around with big eyes. I was so hopeful you would dive into that cake, but you wanted absolutely nothing to do with it! You finally started crying, so we took you to rejoin the party. I tried multiple other times, but to this day, you still haven't really had cake - or any other sweets.