A Letter to My Daughter
Dear Baby Girl,
Months and months ago, I told your Big Brother that wed know it was getting close to time for you to be born when the weather started to get cool and the leaves on the trees started to change to red and yellow and orange and fall to the ground.
A couple weeks ago, late one afternoon, he was playing in the back yard. I was in the kitchen, starting dinner. Id left the door open, as I do most of the time when hes playing outside, in case he needs something. He was up at the top of the hill, exploring. Im sure its a place the two of you will spend many summer days. Maybe someday, well even put a swingset or a clubhouse up there.
I heard him shouting before I could even see where he was. "Ma-maaaaaaa! Maaaa-maaaa!!!!!!" I ran to the door, and he came out from behind a little tree. He had something in his hand, and he ran down the hill as fast as he could.
"Mamalook! Its. Its. Its a! Its a!" he was so excited he could barely even form a sentence. "Its a leaf! A read leaf! Its so, so red." He put the leaf in my hand.
"That means my babys ready, mama! My babys ready!" He pulled his arms into his chest, smiling so big that his eyes squinted almost closed and his face scrunched. He curled into himself and shook and wiggled the way he does when he can hardly contain his excitement.
"Woo hoo!" he shouted, finally letting out his breath. "My babys ready!!!"
Sure enough, though all the other leaves I could see anywhere around the neighborhood were still green, hed found the very first red leaf. It was just what hed been waiting for. His Baby Sister. Thats what it meant to him.
Almost all the leaves are golden and crimson now, baby girl. As I was driving up our street a couple days ago, a chilly fall wind was blowing. The leaves fluttered through the air like a beautiful ticker tape parade. A parade of colors just waiting to celebrate you. To welcome you into this world.
Toward the end of my pregnancy with your brother, the little spring flowers were just starting peek their heads up through the thawing ground. Tulips and daffodils. I used to tell him as wed walk, "Youll always know that your birthday is coming when you start to see the flowers bloom in the spring and the little green leaves start to sprout on the trees."
I tell you, little one, that youll always know when your birthday is coming because those same little leaves will light up the world with their bright colors and then start to fall to the ground. The smell of the cold and the warm scents of apple and pumpkin will be what you know first in life.
My two beautiful babies; my two wonderful children. I know you will change me profoundly. You already have. Each fall and each spring as the seasons change, no matter how old I get and no matter where you are in the world, I will always be reminded that I am your mommy. And Im the luckiest mommy in the world.
Were ready to meet you, baby girl. Our little family suddenly seems not quite complete knowing youre not yet here. Know that we love you, and we cant wait for you to love us.
-Always,
Your Mama