Darling daughter,
Your second birthday should be all about you, and of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, before you turn two, I want you to remember that it is just you. Your father and I have spent twenty-four incredible months basking in the glory that is an only child; we adore, we dote, we spoil, we cherish, we soak up every waking moment that you will allow us to be the center of your universe.
But it’s not always going to be that way. Someday, if fate will allow it, you will have a little sibling (or siblings) that will share in the adoration, the doting, and the cherishing, and it’s hard to imagine, for all of us, what that will be like.
As we prepare to celebrate your second birthday this week, I know we need to make the most of this next year with you. So here are my “two-fold” promises I am making to you for your second birthday:
When you are two:
We will continue our spontaneous picnic dinners in the park, and I will relish in chasing you, throwing you in the air, giving you belly raspberries, and caressing your sun-kissed face.
When you are one of two:
We may not make it to the park as frequently or spontaneously at first, but I will make every effort to have “just us” time when you need it so if only for a brief moment, you remember how it used to be. And I will never stop caressing your sun-kissed face until you ask me to.
When you are two:
I look forward to snuggling with you and only you in the mornings before I have to dash off to work.
When you are one of two:
I look forward to watching you wake up to find your sibling and snuggle him or her before I have to dash off to work, but I will always try to spare a minute to wrap my arms around you and remember how it used to be.
When you are two:
I will be right there with you, dancing in the splash pad in the summer and sledding with you in the winter. You will have my undivided attention, and I’ll be your constant partner in crime.
When you are one of two:
You will have a new partner in crime, and I will both smile and cry at the ever-changing dynamic of our family and have mixed feelings about how it used to be.
When you are two:
I will continue taking thousands of photos of you to document your smile, your eyes, your hands before they rapidly change into a young girl.
When you are one of two:
I will adoringly compare photos of you to your sibling, but I will also look back on those photos and fondly remember how it used to be…when it was just you.
