Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
Happy Birthday Libby.
I hope you will always remember waking up to a room full of balloons and ice cream cake for breakfast on this day. My birthday wish for you is that you embrace every new adventure the year ahead brings. I can’t wait to see what you do with the next 365 days.
Love,
Momma
Dear Libby,
You continue to amaze me on a daily basis with:
From the bottom of my heart, I love you to pieces dear girl. Thank you for the grand adventure of being your momma.
Happy 2.5 Libby. I have to say, the 2’s have been an education. You feel and want and do EVERYTHING on a level that astounds me….as though your joys, your sorrows, your smiles, your tears, your wants all pass through a magnifying glass. It’s amazing, and a little terrifying, to watch you experience the world. And it’s an incredible gift to watch the world experience you.
What do I want to remember about this time? I want to remember how you still smile and laugh in your sleep like you did as a baby. Seeing that completely pure smile still melts me.
I want to remember the sound of your feet tearing across the floors as you charge full steam ahead. You’re usually chasing the cat and desperately trying to be his friend.
I want to remember how proud you are when you are able to do things yourself. Whether it’s putting on your socks and shoes or helping dry the dishes, you started saying “I do it” before you started saying “No”.
I want to remember how you sing the same three songs after breakfast every day. Roar, Edelweiss, and Fix You are the soundtrack to our mornings.
I want to remember how it feels to have you wrap yourself around me. There is something magical and melty about feeling your body completely relax in my lap.
I want to remember how every single day with you is an adventure….and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Libby. Happy birthday to you.
I love you to pieces.
Momma
Dear Libby, I took this picture of you today. Somehow, in this moment you aren’t my 18 month old. No, in this moment I see the big girl you will become peeking out at me. And it makes me all melty inside because it happens so quickly.
I swear it was just yesterday you were this wee crying baby that we brought home. And now you say actual words like cat, night night, elmo, more, and up. You don’t just walk, you run…even when there isn’t enough room for you to, you run at full speed. I’ve watched you mimic with your dolls the things your Dad and I do with you…you give them medicine, you feed them, you show them books, and you hug and kiss on them. Watching you be the momma taking care of your dolls reminds me that you don’t miss a trick and I need to be mindful that your eyes are always on me.
You won’t remember these days. So I want you to know that even from the time you were just getting to know the world, you found joy in it, sometimes in the most unlikely places. Whether it’s turning any request into a game of catch me, providing the sound effects when we read that all the hippos go bezerk, or discovering that momma’s black loafers and old watch are the perfect accessories, you embrace where you are. I hope you will always hold on to that trait.
I also want you to know how you got that the tiny scar by your right eye. By the time you grow up it will probably be hardly noticeable, but I will always know it’s there. And so before that particular detail gets lost to me….you had a real knack for knocking into the coffee table. Usually it just resulted in a bump or bruise. But this one time you hit the corner just right and got a cut that turned into your very first scar. I know you can’t even see it in this picture, but I promise you it’s there. I also know it won’t be the only hurt you will ever experience but I hope that the others that are sure to come will fade in time as well.
Happy half birthday to you dear Libby. I love you to pieces.
Happy Anniversary!
Driving back to the hotel after dinner Saturday night I very much wanted to be able to take a moment and write each of you a thank you note. My traveling companion, however, saw to it that the opportunity to reflect on this year’s Big Summer Potluck did not come until the ride home on Sunday. And maybe that’s for the best. It allowed some time for the meaning of the weekend to reveal itself a bit more fully.
Having attended two previous Big Summer Potlucks, I can attest that each one is unique; what I take away is going to differ each time. And while every BSP has it’s own personality there are common threads that run through each event.
It is obvious that you put a great deal of thought into creating something that is fresh and new through the choice of speakers and topics. From Shauna talking about having the courage to ignore the negative editor in our heads, to Alice embodying the power of authenticity, to Joe and Jeni and Jessamyn speaking about allowing a vision to change, you offer us the opportunity to nourish a different part of our spirit every year.
At the same time you manage to keep each BSP feeling comfortable and familiar by fostering a sense of community among a pretty varied group of attendees. Regardless of whether we are seasoned veterans, brand new bloggers, or if we’ve stepped away from actively blogging, we are a valued member of the BSP family. We are each greeted with a warm smile, an open heart, and an embrace. You allow each of us to (literally) be a guest in your home. Knowing the power that comes from sharing a meal together, you cook for us and allow us to contribute our own dishes to the group. It really is a potluck.
There is no one BSP attendee experience. For the introverts among us, it is possible to hang back a bit and observe. And for those of us who are more outgoing, the opportunity to meet and greet and network with other bloggers and the brands we love happens organically…on the bus, at a meal, or during Open Mic time. Some years those discussions lead to tears…big, mascara smearing, salty sobs of realization and understanding. Other years, the epiphanies are private.
In some ways I feel my BSP experience has come full circle. It was while I was at BSP 2011 that my mother passed away. The Universe saw to it that I was surrounded by a community of friends at a moment when my emotions battled and raged within me. I was not alone when one chapter of my life was so abruptly shut. At BSP 2013 I was able to introduce my BSP family to the newly opened chapter of my life…Miss Libby. Is it a coincidence that my daughter was born almost exactly one year after my mother died? I don’t think so. Bringing Libby to BSP this year felt like coming home.
To everything there is a season. For me, BSP is the season of new beginnings. Those beginnings can be big and life changing. Or they can be quiet opportunities to recommit to myself. That may not be what you set out to achieve when you plan each year’s event. But somehow that is what you create.
I’m already looking forward to BSP 2014.
xoxoxo,
Wendi
My heart is very full. Happy birthday Libby.
Dear Libby, you don’t remember the day you were born. But your Dad and I will never forget it. You should know that it is one of my most favoritest stories ever and I plan on making sure I tell it to you every chance I get….especially on your birthday. That’s one of the privileges bestowed on me by virtue of being your momma. Another is that I get to reflect on the year that has been and wonder what the one ahead will hold for you.
I am in complete denial that your birthday is only a few days away. Where have the last 365 days gone? Every time I look at you I marvel at how much change has taken place in a single year. Gone is the 7 pound newborn who didn’t know day from night, who would promptly fall into a restful sleep the moment she was snuggled into my chest, and whose cry morphed into the bleat of a billy goat when a requested diaper, feeding, or snuggle did not materialize in a prompt manner.
Nope, that Libby is just a memory now…tucked away with mental snapshots of other moments, seemingly ordinary but quietly precious – sleepy middle of the night feedings, the way you smell after a bath, the way you smile with your entire face scrunched up so that all we see is gums with two baby teeth poking through on the bottom. These are what fills my heart.
All that has made way for you to become an adventurous little person. You are developing clear preferences for things you like….and things you don’t. Your curiosity, like your energy, is boundless and it simply amazes me to watch you conquer your world.
I adore the fact that you learned to crawl so that you could chase the cat (I don’t think the cat was too happy about that development). And I’ve made it my own personal mission that one of your first words will be “cat”. It’s clear to me that you know what the word means because when I ask you “where’s the cat?”, you turn and look and point….at the cat. So we will keep playing “where’s the cat” where I keep repeating c-c-c aaaaaaaaaaaa t-t-t, cat. And eventually, something that sounds almost sort of like cat will come tumbling out of your mouth. After that maybe we can work on the idea of “gentle”? I’m sure the “cat” would appreciate that.
You are already starting to assert your independence and I can see that it frustrates you not to be able to do everything you want. All I can say about that is it’s my job to identify the boundaries. And it’s your job to push them. It’s part of the dance that we do.
And as surely as I know the sky is blue, I know that I won’t always get it right. There will be moments that I am not the parent I want to be, or the one you need me to be. I just hope that one day you will see that along with the truth of my imperfection you also saw the truth of my love for you.
Happy birthday dear Libby, I love you to pieces.
xoxoxo,
Momma
Happy Half Birthday precious girl. You have amazed me over the last 180 days with your growth and development. You’ve gone from being a cuddly bundle of newborn-ness, completely unaware of the ways of this world to becoming this tiny person who has a big personality and is beginning to tap into the power you wield. I am in awe of the fact that within moments of waking up each and every day, you BURST into smiles. Once the sleep has worked itself out of your hazelish eyes, you are on…singing, jabbering, flailing your arms and legs, just itching to launch yourself out of my arms and across the room. It is only a matter of time before you figure out that if you synchronize the arms and legs you will be mobile.
As much as you smile, it’s no wonder that you have the sunniest disposition imaginable. You seem to be happy whatever and wherever; you charm everyone you meet with your easygoing nature. I love that you sit back and take everything in. You’re an observer. But you’re also the ring leader. At daycare, you’re the one showing the other children how to scoot around, stealing the socks off their feet, and deciding that napping is optional.
There are many milestones yet to come….if your increased fussiness is any indication, you should be cutting teeth soon; before I’m ready for it you will be crawling and walking; and soon enough you will recognize that those noises and sounds that come out of your mouth have meaning and power.
But I’m in no hurry for those things to happen. I am enjoying the moments as they come. Whether it is watching you make a glorious mess of yourself and your highchair as you discover solid food, trying to comfort you during these days when all you know is that your mouth hurts, or listening to you unleash a rare belly laugh when your dad manages to uncover one in your cheeks or behind your ear or under your arm…I keep telling myself to commit these moments to memory because they will be gone before I know it.
Six months from now we will be celebrating your first birthday. And there will be cake and presents and family and friends. And I will revel in every second of that experience. But these half birthdays, they are my special opportunity to celebrate all that you are.
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 