"Emmeline almost Two!"

My dearest Emmeline,

It is hard to believe that you will be turning two years old in less than a month. Your spirited, beautiful, wonderful life has deeply and profoundly changed me and your daddy in ways that we never could have imagined. Every single day I am astonished by your strong opinions, loving nature and outright precociousness. You make us laugh like we have never laughed before and keep us busier than we ever thought was possible. We have marveled at and adored you since before you were born. Before your birth, we gushed over every strong kick and stared at your ultrasound pictures endlessly. On the day you were born, we fell in love with you instantly and were in awe of your beautiful features (especially your eyes) and mammoth size! When you were a newborn, every tiny move and coo was a source of wonder and every slight cough was a trigger for anxiety and concern. You soon learned to grab for objects (oh, how fun!), sit up on your own (good job baby!), crawl (watch out kitties!), walk (running VERY soon followed) and communicate through signs and words (very quickly you mastered different inflections and nuances of usage). Now that you are nearing your second birthday, you are more lovable and interesting than ever. When you are left to your own devices to play, you ping-pong around the house, resting only for a cuddle, story time, or snack. Occasionally you will spend time reading books to yourself (you start every story by saying, "One day...") or playing with your dollhouse. You are becoming quite good at playing independently and reading to yourself, but you would much rather be cuddled up on one of our laps, sucking your thumb. We are able to carry on long conversations with you about things that happened in the past tense (you are still talking about the zoo trip from earlier this month) or even about abstract things (you understand what it means to *think* about something. You say, "Emmeline is thinking about grapes!" or "Daddy is thinking about sleeping!"). Right now your daddy is especially fond of the way that you tell him about the way things "go": "Cows go moo!" or "Odie (grandma and pa-pa's dog) goes slurp, slurp, slurp!") You know that your birthday is coming up very soon: "Emmeline almost two!". You have even learned to hold up two fingers! We are constantly dumbfounded about the new things that come out of your mouth. Your expanding vocabulary certainly keeps things new and interesting for us! To say that we are looking forward to watching you as you grow is an understatement. Every day with you is the sweetest day.

As you grow, I hope that you come to realize that you are descended from rather amazing men and women. On May 9, your auntie Kelsey received her Doctorate of Arts in Biology from Idaho State University (I can't believe that my little sister is a doctor):

You and daddy stayed in Delaware while I went to Idaho to witness Kelsey's hooding. It was wonderful to be there for her and it also afforded you and I the opportunity to finally ween. When I came back from the three-day trip, I told you that mommy's milk was all gone. You fussed for about 30 seconds, but then you were content with your thumb. Now that it has been a few weeks, you still talk about nursing but do not ask for it. I am glad that it was so easy for you; had you been upset about it, I don't think I could have followed through. I am still sad that you are not nursing anymore, but since it seemed to be no big deal for you, it was clearly time. I am so thankful that it was an easy transition for you.

On Mother's Day, when I was still in Idaho, your great-grandma Alice passed away. I am not yet able to articulate the experience of that day or of the week that followed. To be sure, we were all glad to be together, celebrating her life but these things are never easy. I really don't know how any of us would have gotten through it without your sunny smile and sweet giggles.

By the time you are able to read this you will already know what a special, loving and spirited woman she was. I am thankful that she knew you and that you were able to spend so much time with her, though we lived so far away. Great-grandma LOVED babies, having seven of her own, fourteen grandchildren, countless great-grandchildren, and even one great-great-grandchild. She was so excited for your arrival and knew somehow that you were going to be a girl:

Here she is making her prediction in March of 2007.

And here you are meeting for the very first time

in September of 2007; your first trip to North

Dakota after your birth

She couldn't see very well so she liked to feel her

way around!

With great-grandma in March of 2008

July 2008

Hitchin' a ride; Christmas 2008

March 2009

As you can see, you brought so much joy to your great-grandma in these last two years of her life. Indeed, you have brought so much joy to us all. Your daddy and I are so wholly and completely in love with you and cannot believe that you are ours.

Your mommy forever and always,
Me