A Toddler has Arrived!

My Dearest Scarlett,
So much has happened since I last wrote to you, but you continue to change and grow every day.  You took your first steps at 11 months when we were in Merida, but you really started taking off around your first birthday.  You love to wander and do so fearlessly.  You just start going and don't really care to look back.  You are an explorer.  I can tell.  We spent your first birthday in a big, beautiful celebration with all four grandparents at the Isla Bonita, Hisperia on Margarita Island.  It was such an emotional day for me.  Memories of your birth and the year prior flooded my memory all day, and I just felt overwhelmed with love for you and the ways you have brought joy to our lives.

For your birthday, I made you special sugar free muffins.  Easier said than done in Venezuela.  There is a shortage and flour and baby powder were not available, so Mimi imported these items along with the applesauce.  There is a shortage of milk, so Papu waited in line for two hours to procure milk.  Finally, once I made the muffin batter, we went to turn on the oven and it wouldn't heat up.  We searched for another oven and eventually found a neighbor with a working oven.  I was so nervous.  I tried so hard on these muffins and it felt like everything was set up to fail, but baby girl, you loved them!  Thank you for being open to my food.

On your birthday you received my little ponies, a doll, a tricycle, a dinosaur, a transformer, books, a fake cell phone, and much more.  You loved all of it!

You really love the beach, Scarlett.  In this way, you are also fearless.  You walk straight for the water and don't even appear bothered when the waves crash in and force you to the ground.  You get up and go straight back out.  I feel like you are most free when you are at the beach.  You love the sand, the other people, and most of all, the water.

You have started to speak a little bit more lately.  You say the following:  Daddy, bubbles, dog, ball, and sometimes mom.  It's funny, it's like you see the world through dogs and balls, which are your favorite, and right now, all relatives seem to be daddy.

You are eating so well.  We still have you on a vegan diet, and you love to eat by yourself.  You are just now starting to eat with a spoon, which is kind of amazing considering you are just 13 months and there are many Venezuelan five year olds who are still being spoon fed by their partents.  You are incredibly independent.

You have taken reading to all new levels.  You love it are a voracious reader.  We read to you all day long, sporadically, whenever you want us to read to you, you bring the book to us and we read.  Before, while we read, you liked to browse a different book simultaneously, but now you just sit attentively through sometimes five books in row.  Again, I am impressed by your attention span, little one.

We will leave for yet another big adventure in just about a week.  We will head to Peru and Brazil and I am so excited to watch you experience the Rio beaches.  You will take them all by storm, as always, Little One.

Thank you for being the best little person I could every imagine.  I love you so much.
Your Mommy

Sleeping, Eating, and Your First Steps

My Dear Scarlett,

Every day with you is such a gift.  You are now nine months old.  You bring me more joy than I ever would have imagined.  Thank you for being the best little girl in the world.  I have been loving introducing you to finger foods.  Watching you experience every single first is just so incredible.  Yesterday you tried oatmeal, apples (not pureed), and yuca for the first time.  I am trying to keep you on a vegan diet, with all sorts of flax seeds, beans, nuts, fruits and veggies.  My little one, I am trying my best with you and I hope you will forgive my imperfections.  I just want you to be healthy and happy.

We are also trying hard to help you learn how to take your naps in a bed.  This has been very hard to do because you just do not like to be left alone in your bed during the day.  At night you go down with such ease and not even a peep, however the day time is a different story.  I am letting you cry it out, and it has been so hard.  I sit and watch you on a monitor, with you the whole time.  Do you understand that I am there with you, despite my physical absence?  I am told that this is what you need in order to acquire healthy sleep habits, so I am going with it.  It has been the hardest thing I have had to do so far as your mommy.  I hope you will be okay and that soon this training process will be over so you can sleep and have healthy and peaceful naps in your bed.  I love you.

You mommy.

YOUR FIRST STEPS (a couple months later)
Dear Scarlett,

With each passing day I love you more.  Your eyes are so bright and filled with light, and you bring so much joy to everyone with whom you connect.  You are changing so quickly.  A couple of weeks ago, here in Merida, you took your first steps.  So wobbly, unsure, and yet off you went.  First two, here in the little coral we built you in the living room of Cuckoo/Papu's house.  Then, you took six more and now it's become something regular.  Still, your preferred mode of transportation is crawling, but I know it's only a matter of time.

You are continuing to eat a vegan diet.  I'm so proud of you.  You love to eat walnuts, almonds, beans, fruits, and veggies, oatmeal and whole wheat bread.  You are still breastfeeding about five times a day, and you just love to look up and smile at me.  It melts my heart.

In September, we took you to Argentina.  It was your fifth country and you did so well.  We explored parks, museums, restaurants, street fairs, and so many cool neighborhoods.  You are such a cool baby to travel with because you are truly open to the world.

We have also started watching you interact more with other babies.  You do so well.  Some of the other babies tend not to be so nice, but you are peaceful and just let them be.

We have been in Merida for about a month now and in two days we will head back to Margarita.  Every single day that I share with you is a gift.  I love when we explore nature together.  You love to touch the plants and you laugh at the flowers.

Having you has been the greatest joy of my life.  Thank you.

Crawling Craziness

Dear Scarlett,

Everything changes with you so quickly.  You are growing up and now have such curiosity and love of life.  You are crawling all over the place and exploring the world with a vigor that reminds me of me and your daddy.  You want to see and understand it all.  We have finally let go of our fear that you will eat sand, and you are now able to just let go at the beach.  You love to crawl everywhere and explore the sea weed, water, and sand.  You have no fear you know?  You crawl straight for the water. 

You have been sleeping through the night lately.  We put you to bed around 7pm, after we read you stories in English and Spanish.  You love to smuggle toys into places they aren't supposed to be.  We find rubber duckies in the bedroom, and pieces of your puzzle in the bathroom.  It makes our hearts warm.  

We are also pleased to announce that you have officially started taking a bottle, which is hugely exciting.  You are drinking water from the bottle now, and still breastfeeding all the time, and also eating a great diet of fruits, veggies, and flax seeds.  I am doing my beast to keep you healthy my little girl.  I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive my shortcomings.  

Margarita Peace and Cuba

Dear Scarlett,

We have now been living on Margarita Island for three and a half months and you have been quite a beautiful baby.  I just cant believe how quickly you change though.  In this short time you have started eating solids, rolling over, sitting up, and crawling.  Watching you as each milestone passes brings me a lot of emotion but what a lucky pérson I am to be able to watch as you reach each milestone.

We tried to give you your first solid food at six months in Cuba.  We tried banana, but you just werent ready.  So a week or two later we tried sweet potatos, and from here on out, you have just taken off.  I make all your food on my own and you are eating only fresh fruits and veggies.  And of course you are still breastfeeding all the time.  I make your food by peeling it, then steaming it, then I blend it up using the water from the steamer.  Finally, I put the food into little ice cube trays and freeze it for later.  So far you have enjoyed many foods:  sweet potato, peas, carrots, squash, avocado, peaches, apples, pears, spinach and banana.  I love watching you taste a new food for the first time.

We have been really enjoying our life with you on this perfect island.  We love to go to the beach and we put you in a little pool and you just chill on the sand for hours playing.  You are so cool, my little girl.  At night we read lots of books together (and during the day) in both Spanish and English.  You love books.

You also traveled to your fourth country with Mimi and Doodle a month ago.  We went to Cuba, which is a story all of its own, but the Cubans loved you, and you they.  We would be at bars or restaurants and they would steal you and take you behind the bar and pass you all around.  You love the world, Scarlett and welcome new people with smiles and laughter.  On this journey you entered caves, took boats, crossed valleys, went on horse driven carriages, and so much more.  So nice to see you up for any experience at such a young age.  I hope you continue to embrace the world in this way.

And the other day you started crawling (7.5 months).  Wow!  I just cant believe you are mobile now.  You smile and more so wonderfully.  Screaming and moving with ease.  Now I must baby proof the house.

Well, I just wanted you to know that this time off with you has been the best of my life.  Each day with you is a gift and for this, I could never be more grateful.  Thank you for being my daughter.