Hi Molly,
I was originally going to try and make like 10 posts with my best version of life advice, but I thought that wouldn’t be fun if it’s all I did. I’ll still do that since I don’t want to rob you of a chance to roll your eyes at whatever opinions I have and why I thought typing them out online would be a good idea, but in the meantime I want to memorialize some of the fun stuff we did together. I know, this is what facebook is for, but I haven’t really used it in the last ~20 years it’s been around so why start now? Also, I know the timestamp of this post might be confusing if it’s visible. I originally made a test post to see how it would look and I ended up editing that when I made this. Today is actually June 23rd.
So you just turned one! I can’t believe how fast you’ve grown up. Your mom hung up your weekly pictures she started the day we brought you home from the hospital and it was so cool to see how much you’ve changed even in just one year. You started off a little baby, sweet and fragile, and already you’re a toddler stomping around the house shouting the few words you know mixed in with the cutest gibberish I’ve ever heard. I love it.
For your birthday we could only have a small group over. We’re still on the tail end of the pandemic and it’s easy for me to get sick with my treatments, so we have to be careful. Our friends have kids close to your age, and it was a blast to watch you all interact. You have such a wonderful, happy personality. You greet everyone with a smile, you’ll let anyone pick you up, you share your toys (even if you demand them back right away).
I loved how you kept running at the kiddie pool. It was clearly too tall for you to climb in on your own, not to mention the fact you had no game plan for if you did get in without someone helping you walk around without falling. Still, you kept going at it and throwing your little leg up on the side with your tongue out, like if you just put in a little more effort this time you’d get in. So cute!
I wanted to share a few pictures if I can figure out how to upload them. If it’s not obvious by now, I have basically no idea what I’m doing with regards to formatting or laying out a blog. Let this be an example of not letting perfection be the reason to stop you from doing something!
I love this picture of you (ok, I love them all, but I love this one too). Mom was taking pictures of you as she does every week, and you started getting a little fussy. My treatment happened to be the day before, so I was still in bed but I got tagged in to help. This was your face when you saw me come down. You’re always so happy to see me, and each time you look at me like this I feel like I’m on top of the world. I wouldn’t trade anything for just one of these smiles, so how lucky am I to see it every day?
Just a classic picture of me and you. Sorry I’m not better looking, hopefully you take after your mom.
We did the smash cake thing. First off, you can see I’m sitting in a chair. I want to be clear, I wasn’t weak or something and could easily stand. Your cousin Lucas (he’s 9) challenged me to a contest on who could sit in a chair the longest, and at that point it’s a matter of pride. Anyway, you fed me that gross cake from your hands and I ate it off your fingers because it made you happy and I’m not a little bitch.
Last one, just wanted to show you the how tall the pool was you kept trying to climb into. Also I guess I just love this picture for how you’re looking up at me. You’re technically a toddler now, but I don’t care if I live for another 50 years, you’ll always be my baby.
Dear Molly 