My sweet Little S,
Today you turned one - how can it be? This time last year I held you in my arms for the first time and cried tears of joy while you held onto my finger. You were and still are perfect - exactly how God wanted you to be and more than your Daddy or I could have imagined! This time last year you, your Daddy and I, and so many sweet family members were crowded into a hospital room “oohing” and “ahhing” over you while you slept with your sweet face against my chest...heaven.
I remember about a week before you were born watching your elbow rub across my tummy - now your elbows have the sweetest little dimples in them! You are so full of joy and bring us so much joy too. Wherever we go you say “Hi” to every person that we pass - you seem to make people’s day with just one word and a gummy smile (you still only have one little tooth, bless your heart). You love to stand at the window in the playroom and watch the world go by and say “woof, woof” hoping to see the dog across the street come outside. Your favorite song right now is “Rock, rock, rock, rock...Rock a little Susu...I love you.” We sing it to you when you’re in the swing or on the rocking chair so whenever you see one of those or whenever you just think of it throughout the day you sing, “ya, ya, ya, ya...” and your Daddy and I look at each other and smile - we LOVE hearing you sing. You are such a little love-bug. You’ll just randomly run up to me or your Daddy and give us hugs or nuzzle your face into our necks. It. Is.The. Best!
So much has changed throughout this first year of your life and God has worked in your life and ours in amazing ways. When you were two months old you started to refuse to eat. It broke my heart to see you so sad and hungry and yet choose not to eat. I would watch your monitor so closely so that as soon as you woke up I could run in and feed you before you came out of your groggy state - it was the only way you would eat. We prayed and prayed for you to get better. The doctors figured out that you had an intolerance to cow’s milk so I went on a dairy-free and soy-free diet. You were still sad and in so much pain after you ate so we found a formula that worked and within a few days you were back to your old self. We praised God.
When you were four months old your doctor noticed that your hips weren’t exactly right. Your legs would lay at a 90 degree angle from your side so they sent me to get x-rays. Your hip was underdeveloped and so we prayed and they followed you for the next few months. When we came back for a follow-up appointment they said you were doing great and everything was looking normal. We praised God.
At this same time the doctor noticed that you were more flexible than most babies and a little “floppy” as they said. You still had trouble holding your head up at four months and they determined that you had "low muscle tone". So they gave me the phone number for a physical therapist and she started coming to our house twice a month to work with you. We set a goal when we first started and hoped that by April (around your first birthday) you would be walking well enough to enjoy an Easter-egg hunt with your cousins.We prayed and prayed. Every time she came she would talk about how amazing you were doing. Your birthday party is tomorrow and you will literally be running around with your cousins. We praise God.
Around nine months the doctor told us to start slowly introducing dairy products to see how you would react to them. I was so nervous and didn’t want to put you through all the pain you went through earlier in your life. We prayed and prayed. Your eat cheese, yogurt, and dairy-based formula every day and LOVE it! We praise God.
I sometimes sing you a little song that I wrote for you. The words are:
“Sweet baby of mine,
You have my heart.
Sweet baby of mine,
From the very start.
God has lent you to me,
And I’m so thankful to Him.
Sweet baby of mine,
Baby of mine.”
Every night after you finish your bottle you snuggle your face onto my shoulder and I rock with you and pray. I thank God for your life, for giving us the time that He has given us up until this point. I pray that you will come to know Him at a young age and walk with Him all the days of your life. I pray that you will love His Word and love spending time with Him daily. I pray that you will find your worth in Him and Him alone. I pray for protection from evil. I pray that you will be a leader at school and among your friends; that people will be drawn to you because of the way you love Jesus. I pray that you will love telling others about Him. I pray for your friends who you may grow up with - Lily, Kate, Raelyn, Natalie, and Nora that they would come to know Jesus at a young age too. I pray the same for your future husband and that from a young age God would provide a godly man in his life to point him towards Christ and show him what it means to be a man of character and how to love a woman the way that God intends for him to. I pray that God will protect both of you from sexual sin - that He would protect your eyes and your bodies and that you will save yourselves for each other. I pray for your children and your children’s children and all generations after you - that they will know Jesus and leave a legacy that glorifies Him. And I beg God that He would be glorified in your life and/or your death. Then while you’re in my arms I open up my hands and usually fight back tears and tell God that you are His - that you belong wholly to Him; you are not mine to hold onto. Then I thank Him again for allowing us to be your parents. Then I tell you it’s time to go to sleep and that I love you so very much and sway with you for a little while before laying you down in your crib. It’s probably my favorite time of the day.
I am humbled by the gift that He has give us in you and I lay you at His feet, sweet child.
Love,
Your adoring Momma
