My little baby,

You are officially a toddler, but I will continue calling you “my baby” ’til the day I die.

You had a wild, completely off-your-routine day today and it was the absolute best watching you soak it all in. (Well, until the very end of the night when you put your cranky pants on).

All day, you’ve been stumbling around, saying, “Boon! Boon! Boon!” Balloons make you so happy and having the apartment filled with boons made you so excited. Your Aishu Didi surprised you today with a singing balloon and cupcakes. You were so focused on the singing boon that you didn’t care that we were attempting to shove sugar down your throat. What kinda kid doesn’t want A CUPCAKE?!

Later in the evening, we tried to give you some ice cream cake and you cried about it.

Not what I was expecting. But we’ll give it another go on Saturday with a smash cake.

All day long (and, let’s be honest, all YEAR long), your family showered you with so much love. Your Badi Dadi sent you an outfit to wear today. Your Badi Nani got you a personalized book. Dadi bought you all the Mickey party supplies and balloons to play with. Portal calls and FaceTimes kept coming in for you all day. Surprise visits and cupcakes and halwa showed up at our door. Gifts sent from all over. And the best gift of all was getting to spend the day with your grandparents.

Your Nanus and Babaji were sporting those Mickey birthday hats like nobody’s business. And they did it all with a smile because it was for you, their little chotoo.

I can’t believe I’ve been your mama for a year. The other day, you fell down. And, though you didn’t get hurt, I think it scared you a little bit. Your face crumpled up and the tears came rolling down your cheeks. You looked up and around, searching for someone or something.

The minute you spotted me, you came crawling my way.

You were looking for me.

Me.

I was telling your Masi the other day, “I can’t believe that there’s this little being that searches for me. That wants me. That, at the end of the day, gets handed to ME to comfort him.”

You need me. And I need you. And I can’t even explain to you how wonderful a feeling that is.

I love you so much.

You make our lives a zillion times harder than it used to be. You make me more tired than I’ve ever been or ever imagined I could be. But, at the end of the day, when I’m snuggled up next to you putting you to sleep (knowing that you’re going to wake me up five times over the next eight hours), none of that seems to matter.

Because along with those sleepless nights and challenging moments, you’ve made our days so full in so many other ways.

You find joy in the simple things. Birds. Balloons. Dancing to music. Books. Greeting your papa after a few hours apart. Portaling with your grandparents and showing them how you throw a ball. Stumbling around the apartment because, even though you just learned how to walk, you already want to run. Bath time and sticking your hand under the faucet to feel the running water. Sneaking into mama and papa’s closet and pulling down all of papa’s clothes onto the floor.

You make us smile all the time.

And you make us feel such gratitude that we get to be your parents.

Love you the most, our Ishu Pishu. Thank you for making this last year of our lives the most memorable.