Mandarin Turns ONE!

It’s 12:01 am and as I write this we are only three and half hours shy of my little girl turning a year old!  She is sleeping peacefully next to me in her light blue polka dot and sundae print  pj’s, and probably doesn’t even have a clue how far she’s come in the past year.  She is sweet and loving, vibrant and full of life and unexpectedly funny. What a personality she has for such a young age!  She has grown so much in a year’s time; I am in awe of how much she’s taught me about life - being present in the moment and savoring the small things (more lessons learned with her than all the Zen books I’ve ever read).  As she’s learning to cope with the fast-paced world that surrounds her, I am in turn learning how to slow things down to be in the moment with my Mandarin.

♥

First picture!
A Birthday Photo!

Because as every parent would say. They grow so fast. 

My Dad trying to catch a glimpse of his first grandchild! 

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We adore you. 

I used to read this poem aloud to her throughout my pregnancy. Every time I did, I’d think of how her tiny heart was beating inside my belly and how the miracle of life has made it possible for two hearts to beat in a single body in the shared rhythm of motherhood and pregnancy. I know she felt my words as I read it aloud to her. 

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

                                  i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

- e.e. cummings

We became a family.

And my heart. She has it. She doesn’t know it yet, but  it is she that carries my heart now.  I’ve given it willingly so my love will be with her all her life. Always. 

♥

Happy Birthday, my LOVE. You are my sunshine - the light the brings me joy. 

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