A letter to my niece

My dear sweet niece,

Today is your first birthday. I am so glad that I was able to celebrate it with you this weekend. Your Hello Kitty party was so much fun, and you received lots of great presents! I can't wait to see you in your pink cammo jeans.

One year ago today, I was in my car heading to the hospital to see you. You arrived much quicker than my long drive, so you were already a few hours old when I got there. You were so beautiful, even as a newborn baby. You are a perfect combination of your mom and dad, and their pride was clearly evident when they looked at you. I was so happy to be there during your first few days of life.

Now you are becoming such a big girl. You are getting around everywhere, and you are saying all kinds of words. If you can say "pumpkin" and "scarecrow", I know you can say "Shara". I'm just sure of it.

Someday I am going to live much closer to you, and we are going to have so much fun together. We are going to take many trips to the toy store and buy lots of fun stuff. After watching you play with my wedding ring, I think dress-up clothes, make up, and play jewelry are definitely in our future. Aunt Shara's house will be for fun and games and lots of love. It will also be for when mommy needs a break, which is perfectly ok with me.

I love everything about you, sweet girl. I love the way you smile with your whole face. Those tiny little teeth of yours just make me grin. You can dance like no one else, and I love the way you love music. You get that honestly. I love the way you kiss your hippo and hug the breath out of your teddy. There is no other one year-old in this whole wide world more precious than you.

Love,
Aunt Shara

Originally posted September 2008 @ Mom in Transition