Dear Pippa,

When you were in my belly I wrote to you often. I thought about you every single minute of every day, and I loved the time I spent writing to you about your kicks, your developments, my dreams for you and how excited your pops and I were to meet you.

Now that you’re here, I still think about you every single minute of every day. You nap and I miss you. I look at you and I miss you. Other people hold you and I miss you. (I’m pretty certain this feeling will go on for quite some time.) I think because you’re here, I haven’t made the time to write to you as often as I should. I haven’t written down all the amazing things you do everyday… probably because I talk about it with your pops all the time. But my New Years Resolution is to amend all that. I want to keep writing you letters so that you know how amazing you are, and how quickly you’re learning and growing and developing. And since you were born on the 13th, I want to write a “wrap up” letter of all your achievements on the 13th of every month.

People told me all the time that the first year with you would pass me by. I never believed them. But now, my little peach, I get it. This past year with you has flown by, much faster than I ever imagined, and much faster than I ever wanted. Already you are closer to ONE than you are a newborn, even though in my heart of hearts you’re still brand new to this world.

So my possum blossom, let me tell you a few things about you at Month Seven:

1. You’ve learned to move those limbs and explore the world by crawling. It’s so amazing to see you go. No one taught you to do this; you just did it on your own. What started as a few commando crawls and push ups at the start of Month Seven has turned into fast paced action by the end of Month Seven. Incredible.

2. You’ve accepted the fact that mommy can’t handle mess during food time, so you’ve learned to let me spoon feed you. And guess what? You actually love food. I was worried there for a while, thinking you hated it and only wanted milk. But no. I just needed to find the RIGHT foods for you, and once I did, it was like fitting missing puzzle pieces together. Synergy! :) You love avocado, blueberries, quinoa, tuna, potato (you are your mother’s daughter, after all), mashed pear, mangos, and rice. You especially love eating meals when daddy comes home from work and eats with you. And your appetite is growing stronger and stronger every day, which I so love seeing.

3. You’ve now communicated that you do indeed recognize Mommy and Daddy, and I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled we are. Truly. :) We love that you reach your little arms up when you want an “uppie,” or twist your body over towards either of us when you want wizzies (daddy) or milk (mommy). :) You are the cleverest girl we ever did know.

As you can see, so much has happened this past month, and I couldn’t be more proud of you than I am right this second. You continue to be hilarious and giggly, and radiate so much warmth and happiness. I love you so much, my sweet Pippy girl.

Happy end of Month Seven and the start of Month Eight!