Dear Dannica,
You round out your first year of life, and we had an exciting month preparing to celebrate your birthday. Your father and I had envisioned a grand outdoor party with hired cooks for our summer baby, but like how the COVID-19 pandemic has altered many of our plans this year, we had to opt for a quieter and much smaller celebration. We took some family pictures at our favorite nearby park to commemorate the milestone.
Then Daddy and I decorated the house with a rainbow theme much like for your baby shower when we were expecting you, our welcomed and loved double-rainbow baby. We were rewarded for our efforts when you looked up in fascination at the decorations and reached up to touch the paper hot air balloons that dangled from the ceiling. Seeing the wonder in your eyes convinced us to leave up the decorations as a sort of entertainment for you even after your party.
On your birthday morning, I prepared a traditional game: you were to pick from a box filled with items that may hint at your future profession. I included things like a forehead thermometer (doctor), a toy "gavel" (judge), whisk (cook), book (teacher), pen (writer), paint brush (designer/artist), computer mouse (technology), ruler (architect), home magazine (real estate agent), and dance robot (engineer). After initial hesitation and very careful consideration as if your future really did depend on it, you picked the dance robot, so Mommy hopes you will rise to become a strong, competent, and compassionate female leader in a corporation, engineering useful products for the future generation.
We let you open your gifts and play with them, Luc leading the way with his expertise with how toys work.
Luc and Mommy spent a weekend baking rainbow unicorn cupcakes to share with your friends at daycare.
We spent the rest of the month taking you to a few local places, such as Stanford Shopping Center.
Visiting beaches became a favorite past-time for us, so that you and Luc could get some time playing outdoors. You love spending hours digging in the sand and quickly worked up the courage to chase waves with your brother, who in the last year has become enthralled with them.
We also visited Vasona Park and took you onto the lake for paddle-boarding.
We spent weekends off work relaxing into domestic life. You'd pull what we call a "Dannica-ism" by climbing into the slit between the mattress and the headboard and slip halfway down before we'd have to hoist you out. Despite being "stuck," you seem to like doing this, maybe to seek our attention.
We take walks to the park and watch our summer crop of sunflowers and dragon fruits grow.
You are now very steady on your feet and could stand for long periods of time, even on uneven surfaces like the bed. Shortly before your 13th month, you took your first few independent steps.
The year has become very different than what we envisioned. We thought we'd show you the world by traveling more with you, introducing you to many firsts in your first year of life. However, we've come to settle into a slower pace of living, happy to have extra time to spend with you, walking you to and from school, watching you grow, happy and content. Thank you for making our hearts so full, Baby Girl. We love you and are so proud of you every day.
