Twelve

The following is a special guest post by J. It is to honor Tadpole's first year. It is a tad bit late.



Dear Tadpole,



Let me first say, I love you. I am certain I have told you that every day in your life thus far, but if I fail to continue that trend you should hear it again.



I held you moments after you were born and teared up. You are our miracle baby. As a bonus, you came with a full head of hair. You were strong, yet so fragile. There have been only a few very defining moments in my life and you stole the cake.



From the beginning, you had a distinct personality. Very early on, you were interactive and responded to your environment. You have a smile that no one can ignore, and the vast majority of people you meet are drawn to you. Several of our friends that seemingly do not even enjoy children claim you as their own. You love to flirt with the ladies; you have multiple “girlfriends” wherever you go and at school are said to have a herum.



You are generally a flexible child. You were only a few days old when we first did yard work together. You assisted me in trimming trees and watering the lawn.



All the neighbors love you, and the block watch crew has already indoctrinated you as an official member (the youngest ever I should add).



I ask you if I can borrow your motorcycle now and again. You don’t respond so I take that as a yes considering my name is on the title.



As of late you are very engaged. You point at what you want and have many different sounds and a few words. You can say Dada, uh-oh, baa-baa, and mama. You also know some animal noises; I think your favorite is oof-oof. With your heightened awareness comes some free will and you now get fussy sometimes when you don’t get what you want. I try and keep a balance by letting you have freedom to explore and making sure that you have good boundaries. You challenge me especially because you are our first child.



You have begun to play with our other little one, R. He tolerates you for a short time and then moves along. He sometimes looks at us as if to ask if we are keeping you. He is used to being an only child/cat and is still getting used to sharing the house.




You recently learned to crawl. You had been rocking back and forth. While we were in California visiting uncle D and aunt B we stayed in a hotel. Mama walked around a corner and you were upset that you could not see her. Instead of fussing, you decided to crawl forward as to get a view of where mama had gone. It was a cool moment to watch and I had front row seats.



I work nights and leave for about 11 hours a day when you add in the commute time. You grow so fast that on several occasions I swear you have grown and are noticeably bigger between the time I leave and the time I return.



Speaking of growing, you have two teeth (front bottom). Your two-tooth grin makes the best smile and it lights up the room when you show it off.



There are a million things I have witnessed in your first year and I could write all day without covering them all. The one thing that sticks out the most to me is your laugh. It is refreshing and uninhibited. Over time, the burden of the world breaks people of some of their happiness. I hope the world is not strong enough to take your laugh and free spirit.



I love you very much,



Daddy.