Kyra's 100

Dear Kyra,

Actually, you are not 100. You are ONE. Twelve months. 365 short days old! This last year was like Antonia’s kindergarten graduation ceremony in that I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that it went THAT fast. Graduation ceremonies are NOT supposed to be fast. And neither was my infant Kyra experience.

If I knew you could give a coherent answer, I’d ask you how the first year out of the womb has treated you. Maybe I’d be so bold as to request some suggestions on improvement and, just because I’m fairly neurotic, a list of things that I’m actually doing right.

But this isn’t about me. It was ALL about you. WAS. Because the day is now over and you are finally asleep. And the kitchen is finally cleaned, so now I can blog about you in relative peace.

I was thinking that you might someday want to know what you were like at one, and so I’ve decided to compose a list of "100 things about Kyra." I could've easily made it 200, but I'll cut my readers a break since they are nice enough to be here in the first place.

I should mention that this is a snapshot good for only 24 hours, being that you change daily. So, without further ado, YOUR list:

1. Your caregiver Dinah is tickled because you say her name.
2. I don’t know how to break her heart and tell her that “Da” also means “Daddy.”
3. And “Mommy.”
4. And possibly even, “For the love of God, will you throw the trash out already?! It stinks in this place!”
5. Everyone at or around the day care knew it was your birthday…. EVERYONE.
6. You were fine with it. Me? I was a little weirded out.
7. You have one of your father’s dimples.
8. Unlike mine, it only reveals itself for special people.
9. You also have his eyes.
10. Shape, not color.
11. Someday, another human being will fall in love with those eyes.
12. Probably more than a few human beings.
13. I can only hope that you are as selective about who you trust then as you are now.
14. ‘Cause not just anybody gets to see your legs kick, your arms flail, your body bounce in utter adulation.
15. Dinah, Daddy, Mommy, and siblings… that’s about it.
16. You have two teeth — bottom center.
17. I wish you had more so that I could quit worrying about you choking.
18. I’ll probably never quit worrying about you choking.
19. Speaking of eating, you are doing more and more of that lately.
20. Favorite foods include: homemade chicken soup, chicken cacciatore, and other time-consuming meals to prepare.
21. You aren’t too big on Cheerios anymore.
22. It used to be the only crunchy thing that turned you on.
23. I’ve been testing the waters and I’ve learned that, indeed, you will drink whole milk.
24. Sometimes, even cold.
25. NEVER with chocolate.
26. But maybe someday.
27. You love giving kisses.
28. With your tongue.
29. Unfortunately, you kiss your toes, the floor, walls, and the trash can if I’m not looking.
30. You gravitate toward lint and paper, beads and dried leaves.
31. You kiss them, too…so amorously, they become a part of you.
32. Literally.
33. Your birthday marked the first true day of Spring here: sprinklers running in the rain and wind, of course.
34. You looked out your window as we drove home from day care (yes, you had to go to day care on your birthday)… and you were fascinated by the herd of about 15 deer blocking me from getting into the garage.
35. “Da!” you said.
36. Today you wore a purple sweater, a long-sleeved, pink, flowered shirt, and hot pink corduroy pants that WILL NOT fit you after one more washing.
37. I thought you looked cute, anyway.
38. You love your siblings a lot, whether they choose to believe it or not.
39. Emma torments you almost as much as you torment her.
40. Toni would like to change your name to Sharon and take you to school for Show and Tell.
41. Jonah would like to keep you in a jar and stare at you all day…. Start a baby collection to add to his rock, quarter, Hot Wheel car, bouncy ball, bug, pinecone and marble collections.
42. You sleep through the night.
43. Unless you are ill.
44. Luckily, you aren’t ill often.
45. YOU AREN’T.
46. You LOVE bedtime.
47. Did I just say love? I’m sorry. What I meant was, you LOOOOVVVVE bedtime.
48. All right, so maybe you don’t love bedtime.
49. Maybe you just love your crib, the dark room, white noise, and soft blankets.
50. Maybe you love solitude.
51. Maybe you are the smartest baby I’ve ever met.
52. You aren’t sensitive like Emma. Or Jonah. Or Toni.
53. We can yell “NO!” and you don’t even flinch.
54. I’m sure this is a good thing.
55. You took four steps yesterday!
56. But I couldn’t get you to repeat the performance today.
57. You have the best pincer grip I’ve ever seen.
58. Maybe it’s because you have the longest baby fingers I’ve ever seen.
59. You are the tiniest one-year-old in your day-care room.
60. Everyone thought you were eight months old, until EVERYONE realized you were one.
61. Even I forget you are one year old.
62. You were JUST born!
63. I blinked!
64. And you turned one!
65. You aren’t interested in reading yet.
66. Books are still food.
67. And not good food, at that.
68. Crayons, markers, pocket change… now THERE’S food.
69. If I had to guess, I’d say you wanna grow up to be a singer/dancer… maybe snag a secure gig in Vegas.
70. Wind makes you breathless.
71. I don’t know how you feel about hot because we don’t get that setting here, but you seem untroubled by cold.
72. UNLESS you are wet.
73. Speaking of wet, you were born to be in water.
74. If I let you, you’d stay there until your body turned blue.
75. Did I mention you are like your father?
76. Yes, in almost every way humanly possible for a daughter to be like her father.
77. You are part fish.
78. You love your sleep.
79. You love good food.
80. You enjoy a good joke.
81. You’re cute and you know how to use it.
82. The sun is gonna kill you if you aren’t careful.
83. You are fascinated with faces
84. And when speaking to them, you demand their full attention.
85. You DO NOT appreciate being tickled.
86. Or having your feet fondled.
87. Although you appreciate a nice massage. Which is COMPLETELY different.
88. You DO NOT appreciate people interrupting you.
89. Or having things yanked from your hands unexpectedly.
90. Or expectedly, for that matter.
91. You have a deep appreciation for the last great garage band — The Kinks.
92. But also for Men at Work.
93. You are affectionate.
94. But not needy (as far as babies go).
95. You come in two settings — very happy or very NOT happy.
96. And yet you are fairly easy to please.
97. And even easier to love.
98. And I adore you like no other human can.
99. Or will.
100. Ever.

All my love,

Mommy