A whole year old

Hamish, my darling baby

I adore you with every breath in my body. You are such a special treasure. With your bottomless eyes, your special smile, your gentle way and your generous nature.

You are a darling. That's the best word to describe you. You really are. You are so enamoured with life. Everything delights you. Your eyes are constantly lit with joy -so visible that it brings tears to mine.

You are such a happy little chappy. You are generous with your love and your cuddles. You bring smiles and love to everyone you meet.

Just yesterday, at the park, a woman and her little girl walked by - you gave them such big smiles that she said "hello you gorgeous happy little boy". And you are.

You've come a long way too. When you were first born, you had respiratory distress syndrome, so had to be ventilated. Your poor little lungs just weren't quite ready for the job of breathing for you, so you needed a little help. It wasn't for long, but there were 4 days at the beginning of your tiny life when you were in a higher level of ICU than Lachie. And even then, when you were only hours old, we could see how gentle and calm you were.

Your mama and daddy love you so much that sometimes - just for a millisecond - we can't breathe. It's so overwhelming - this love we have for you - that we sometimes wonder what we did to deserve the ridiculous amount of happiness that we feel.

As ever, my darling angel boy, all the love in the universe
Your Mama

Darling Lachlan

Could I love you any more? I don't think so. But every day I'm so surprised, because I do.

You are such a cheeky, entertaining, joyous, mischevious little boy.

And you are all of a sudden a little boy. You have so much spark, and so much independence. Nothing baby-ish about you anymore -except when you're tired and you snuggle in for special cuddles. You'll alway be my baby.

You're our intrepid explorer. Nothing is off-limits. Every corner, table, sofa, bench, cupboard is a wonderland waiting to be discovered.

You learn so quickly. You repeat songs back to us, you clap when we clap. You love clapping so much - it totally rocks your world. You get so excited and laugh so much that you literally topple over. Adorable.

You have come so far in a year, littlest one. From a tiny little baby who had stopped growing in-utero at 28 weeks gestation, with umbilical cord problems, born prematurely at only 2 pounds something and with a bleeding stomach, to a vibrant, cheeky darling boy who is so tall you're nearly off the charts, and with a personality even bigger.

As for your mama and daddy, well we've come a long way too. Our first year of being parents has been the most wonderful time of our lives. We didn't really know how much capacity we had for loving you. We didn't know how happy it was possible to be. Our hearts are so full of love that sometimes it actually aches.

I couldn't be more proud of you my amazing, strong, determined little scamp.

As ever, all the love in the universe
Your Mama