Dear Elliot

Dear Elliot,
You probably thought to yourself that you were not going to get a birthday letter, seeing that you are the second child and much of what we did for and with your brother passed you by in the chaos of a 2-child household.

There a pros and cons to being the second child dear Elbie, yes, your life is documented less, you didn't get a grand birthday party for your first year, but we as parents are also a lot more chilled about child-rearing which means you get a lot more freedom to explore and be who you need to be. Relaxed parents, means relaxed and happy baby. :)

And no matter how much less time I have to video your every move, the love I feel for you is the same as I feel for your brother. The love Elliot, it's so big, it's like 3 galaxies x a million rainbows with fairy dust, magic rainbows, baby bunnies, chocolate fountains spewing glitter and daisy petals. Something like that, but than bigger. The love for you and your brother: it can't be contained.

So, let me tell you about you beautiful boy. You are kind of a miracle, I don't say that as most parents do. I mean to say that conceiving you naturally (as we did) was highly unlikely! Your brother came to us through IVF and when we were planning on getting him a sibling, we went to the IVF clinic discussing another embryo transfer and you were apparently already making a little house inside my uterus! The chances of that were so small dear Ellie, so imagine that: you are truly a miracle! :)

Your first year, well now; you. are. a. riot. Not sure why, but for some reason you have wanted to do everything fast, soon, sooner, early on. At the tender age of 3 months old, you were fed up of 'just lying about' and started -with great frustration- to try and roll over. By 4 months you had the rolling over thing down pat. But merely 'rolling over' was boring, so crawling came soon after by 5/6 months you were crawling and at 7 months you were pulling yourself up already. By 9 months you walked. What's going on with you that you are in such a hurry? ;) You even started growing teeth early (well, earlier than your brother, that is)! Your first tooth arrived around 7 months! Oh also: your first actual smile - I swear - lit up the room at like 3/4 weeks old! They all say that those smiles are not 'real' but I'm sure they were social.

You have the most gorgeous smile and twinkle in your eye, you are headstrong, you know what you want and you want it NOW or better yet: yesterday!

Awesomely, your first word with any kind of meaning was 'heeya' from 'Old MacDonald'. Your brother's first word was 'heeya' too and it's now making me think that we either sing that song too often, or you both will pursue a career in farming. You are now able to say the full phrase from the song like so "heeya, heeya hoooo". When you say 'hoooo' you purse your lips into a perfect little 'o' pulling the funniest face. You've also starting 'baby talking'. You'll point at something and then say something to the effect of: 'daddaaa wadindoooow?' With proper intonation and everything. You are so ready to talk and you think you're already actually talking, it's just not our language quite yet. It's magical though, the sounds you make. Like bells.

Dude, I love you so much, but you have got to sort out your sleep behaviour. I thought your brother was an atrocious sleeper in his early days, but you, you are a disaster. You've had nights where you slowly drove me to the edge of insanity by waking up between 12-15 times. Seriously; not funny. You've reduced it down to about 5 to 7 times at the moment which is a great improvement but still considered a legitimate form of torture so please: stop. I don't want to go down the super-nanny road.

The weird thing, my little love, is that, though your sleeping behaviour drives me utterly bonkers, when you've woken up again for the umpteenth time and you latch onto the breast once more and my lips touch your soft little hairs and I look at the blissful little look on your face I am irrevocably sold on you. It's impossible not to love you, no matter how often you wake up.

You have a slightly unhealthy attachment to my electric toothbrush. When it's bath time and we both go into the bath room, you'll see it standing there. You start pointing at it and baby-telling me that you want it and then (baladaaabuddhaa blad da da?), when I give it to you, your little fist grips it like it's the holy grail. You then sit in the bath with it for the entirety of the session (still with iron fist around the toothbrush) and then, when it's time for bed and I take it off you: all crazy hell breaks loose. You are both devastated and inconsolable at having to give up the toothbrush. I've been meaning to talk to you about the perils of life and the terrible things that can befall all of us human beings, but parting with a toothbrush wasn't one of them my sweetheart. ;)

Elliot, you are perceptive beyond your age, have a great sense of humour, a strong will and a beautiful energy about you. You have a big love for your big brother, you call him 'daa-daa' :-) and you too love being with and dancing with your daddy too! I am devoted to you little man, I'm so honoured to be your mama. You make our little family complete.