Letters to Verity: 12 months

My dear Verity Heart,

You're one! This has been the fastest, sweetest year. We are so grateful the Lord has sustained and grown you. What a gift to watch you grow. Your current favorites are: your mama ("mama"), bananas ("nana"), food in general, being held and cuddled, your daddy and siblings, being pushed in the toy shopping cart by your siblings, chewing on books, smiling at people from the sling while leaning into me, rummaging through Lego duplos, uttering repetitions of "ah duh," and kicking your legs in glee, and throwing your head back in anger or distress.

Sometimes it's hard to believe you're already a year old. You're still army crawling, not preferring to stand when supported, and not preferring to sit. When I put you in sitting position, you lean forward into splits right away until you land onto the comfort of your tummy so you can scoot about. You're wearing 3-6 month and some 6-12 month clothing, size 1 shoes, and size 2 diapers. You weigh 14 lbs and measure 26.5" long. You look more like a 6-9 month old, and others comment how little you are. You're the littlest of our kids at this age.

We're thankful you'll stay a baby longer. We love your wide grin, how you cling onto us tightly with curled toes, how you still take sink baths in the Puj tub, how you scarf down all your food (veggies, fruit, eggs, chicken), how you kick happily when you see your family, how you hug and rub your face into your stuffie Fantine before going to sleep, how you put your pacifier into your mouth, how you scoot about like a little slug, how you don't mind all the silly nicknames your siblings give you (i.e. Bippity, Vivity, Jippity), how you sit in the Bumbo to eat Os oat cereal while watching your siblings do school, how you rest on your left side with your right leg atop your left, how you rummage through baskets of items, how you stare wide-eyed at the world around you from the safety of our arms, and how you just want to be close to us.

Oh my dear baby, we love you so much. You're a testament to God's overflowing, undeserved kindness to us. He has been merciful to you and us. Praying your daddy and I would be arrows that point you to our loving Lord and Savior, the one who made you, sustains you, and loves you. May He grant us many more years of knowing you as you grow.

Love you so,
Mama

P.S. Verity at 0 , 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 months. Plus, her birth story.