Hey kiddo! I know you’re not reading this on your first birthday — you can’t quite walk on your own right now, let alone read anything. So I have no idea how old you are now that you’re reading this. You could be 4, 14, or 40. It doesn’t matter how old you are, though. You’ll always be my little girl.

It’s been quite the year. I remember where I was exactly a year ago to the moment I’m typing this: sitting in a small, dark room with your Mom as she was coping with labour. It seems simultaneously so long ago, and as if it were yesterday. I remember the nervousness and excitement we were all feeling. You were coming. We didn’t know you at all yet. Not what you looked like, what you’d sound like, if you’d like us at all, if you’d be a happy baby (and you have been such a happy baby!), or even if you were a boy or a girl.

(more…)

This weekend, it was my turn to be surprised. And surprises came in droves.

Sunday was my 34th birthday. I find it a little hard to believe that I’m actually that old. I always figured when I was in my 30s, I’d be more … mature. And yet I find myself being more immature with each passing year. I guess I’m holding to my pattern — 18 years old, with a heap of experience. For now, I think that’s a good thing. Experience helps, and one can’t get too mature. You lose all the fun, after all!

(more…)