Somehow, the snuggly little baby we brought home from the hospital one Thanksgiving afternoon in California is a tall, brave, funny, joyful, kind five year old today.

We love you, Sophie. Happy birthday.

Last week we celebrated Gideon’s first birthday. The past twelve months have flown by in the blink of an eye and I am still finding it hard to believe that one year ago, on a muggy May morning much like this one, we woke up early and headed to the hospital to welcome our son to the world.

He is the silliest, happiest, sweetest little guy and we are so happy he’s here.

Happy birthday, son. We love you so much.

Dear Gideon,

Somehow you are nine months old; you’ve been out in the world now longer than you were in my belly.

You are so happy—we regularly use the word “jolly” when we talk about your personality. Your laugh is so cute and no one gets better giggles out of you than your big sister. The way your face lights up when you see her enter the room brings me more joy than anything—I hope that you two will be best buds forever.

At nine months, you have six teeth, you are eating everything we put in front of you, and you crawl faster than I can chase after you. You pull up on everything and love to stand—I really think you’ll take your first steps before we know it.

I must admit that I was a little nervous to add another little one to our routine, but you are either a very easy baby or I have less to learn the second time around—or maybe some combination of both. Seeing you learn and grow and experience all the things that this world has to offer brings me right back to the first time we became parents. It’s the same magic, with less anxiety.

In many ways it feels like you were always here, and it’s hard to imagine our lives before you joined us.

But we are so very glad that you did.

xoxo, Mama