Where the Grickle-grass Grows

Disclaimer: I need to tweak a few things with my other blog before I transfer this post to the Squiggles-only blog. If you're not comfortable with a cheesy letter from an overly sentimental mother, skip down to the pictures of Squiggles "reading.' :)

Dear Squiggles,

I can't believe this day has arrived - you are one year old! The day before your first birthday, you stood up by yourself. On March 13, you took your first successful step on your own! I am sad that you're growing up so quickly, but I love each new phase you enter. You are such a delightful baby, and you fill our lives with so much happiness and laughter.

You are a beautiful girl - you have auburn hair, big blue eyes, and porcelain skin. Everywhere we go, strangers approach us to tell you have pretty you are. But you're not just lovely on the outside - you are beautiful all the way through. You are loving and funny and adventurous and perfect! I'm so happy you're in our life, and can't imagine a world without you.

I had children a bit later in life, and had lots of opportunities. I lived in other countries, went to graduate school, learned to play instruments, and have a thousand hobbies. But nothing in my life makes me prouder or brings me more happiness than being your mother - you are my masterpiece.

Every time you smile at me, it brings me joy. I made a small list of some of the things I love about you:

· You can say, "Hi," "mamamama," "dadadadada," "Uuuuuuuuuuu OH," and "No," (though I don't think you know what this means yet). Also, Daddy and I will swear to our graves that you said "Strawberry Shortcake" one morning when we gave you the doll.

· You like it when lions come on TV (in the Baby Einstein World Animals video) and you practice growling quite often. Sometimes you growl shyly and softly - almost a whisper, while other times you growl very loudly - sometimes at strangers at the grocery store! It's quite amusing.

· You still smile and wave at everybody and LOVE attention.

· Recently you have been practicing blowing. We have started blowing bubbles with you outside and in the bathtub, and you seem to have decided that blowing is a valuable skill. Sometimes when we're driving and you have nothing else to do, you start blowing, over and over. It's adorable.

· Another hilarious thing you have started doing is playing "pretend." You love giving things to people, but sometimes there is nothing around to give people. That doesn't stop you! You carefully pick up tiny invisible objects with your thumb and index finger (often you pick up something from your other hand), and then smile sweetly as you "give" the objects to other people (usually Daddy).

· At your first birthday party, you got a new tricycle that has an attachment that can be pushed, and you love it! Whenever we push you around (either up and down the halls of the apartment and in and out of the rooms or outside on the sidewalk), you yell the whole time - it sounds like a war cry. You let out the same war cry when we help you walk by holding your hands while you take tiny dainty steps. It is as though you are saying, "Watch out, world - here I come!!!"

· You love looking at pictures, slideshows, and photo-books of yourself. You squeal when you see the pictures of you that we hung in your room, and want to watch your first-birthday slideshow dozens of times a day. You also often bring me your "Amelia" photo book, and pay close attention as I describe each picture to you.

· You are still very, very friendly. You love waving, smiling, and saying "Hiiiiiiii," to everybody you pass. You're also a little nosy... when we take you anywhere, you stare at other people, especially if they have kids. When you get on an airplane, we have to hold you back because you climb up the seats to see what is going on with the people in front of us, in back of us, to the side of us, etc. You just have to know what's going on everywhere!

· You love it when we get down on the floor with you and place chase while we're crawling. You love it even more when both Daddy and Mommy are playing chase with you. You love to crawl away from us, but you always stop and turn around and come back toward us so that we can "catch" you. When we catch you, we tickle you, throw you back and forth (gently) and into the air, and give you zerberts and kisses. It's a grand family activity and you giggle the whole time.

· You love to play with blocks, and you especially love to knock over towers of blocks that others build (usually Mommy) and say, "Uuuuuuuuuhhhhh OH!" and then cackle with delight.

· You love cheese puffs and Club crackers. You also love, love, LOVE ice cream, but we don't let you have very much. You also love cookies and feeding Daddy.

· You LOVE books - whenever you have play time, you go straight for your books. You used to just eat them, but now you turn the pages and study the pictures. Often you look at your books for 20 - 30 minute stretches. You love looking at pictures of other babies and children, as well as animals. Your favorite books are "Goodnight Gorilla" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." You have learned how to fake laugh, so you "laugh" every time the zookeeper's wife wakes up and finds a monkey in her bed. It's so adorable.

· You also fake-laugh when other people are laughing. Sometimes you start laughing by yourself in your carseat. I will laugh back at you, and then we take turns fake-laughing until you start really laughing - you seem to think fake laughing is funny.

· You enjoy taking baths. You love splashing, dumping water out of cups, and being squirted by your squirty toys. You think it's hilarious when you pass gas in the bathtub, and when we let you have bubble baths, you often bend down and examine the bubbles intently.

· We took you to a park in Virginia a couple weeks ago and let you swing. You squealed with delight and didn't stop smiling. It was so great to see you having so much fun.

· Aunt Cami watches you while we’re at work a three days a week (Daddy and I take turns watching you the other days - we love being able to spend time with you!). You love Aunt Cami, as well as Bryn, Calvin, and Ivy. You follow the kids around, wanting to play with them. They love you, too, and do silly dances to entertain you.

· You start to dance when we hear upbeat music. You bounce your head and smile gleefully. When you're really excited, you bounce with your whole body, but sometimes this makes you tip over sideways. You think that's funny, too. You're such a happy baby!

I'm so happy you're in our family - we would be so incomplete without you. I can't wait to see what shenanigans you have up your sleeve for the second year of life!

With more love that you can ever possibly imagine (until you have your own precious baby girl),

Mommy

You pass through places
And places pass through you
But you carry them with you on the
Souls of your traveling shoes.
~The Be Good Tanyas

The above photo is dedicated to Marsha, naturally.
We now return to our European vacation. Recall that we stayed high up in the Alps in a little town called Murren. There were several neighboring mountain villages, all connected by trails. We took advantage of this and hiked past Winteregg to Grutschalp. The scenery along the way was stunning, and our surroundings were almost silent – it was a lovely afternoon walk.

Part of the trail was parallel to the vintage railroad that connects the villages. Along the way, we had spectacular views of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau peaks, as well Grindewald village, which was across the valley.

We passed this trail, which is actually going uphill. I will most certainly be biking it on my return to the Berner Oberland.

Feeling a little small:

Tim really liked the aqua effect the glaciers gave the snowy mountains.

During most of our stay in Europe, I felt very much like an awkward visitor, completely out of my element. But in Switzerland I felt completely at home, and was at times surprised to hear locals speaking German. Maybe this is why: The following picture is dedicated to Cami, who is the only person I know who might feel honored by the dedication.

I used to dream of having a family, and my dreams always seemed to be set in a mountain scene: hiking through forests and along rambling brooks with my best-friend husband with our kids in tow. I guess sometimes dreams come true.