Today is my baby's 3rd trip around the sun.

Where did the time go?

☀️

Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca

Let's start this post with a short poem(?) I heard on an IG reel.

--

Parenthood is wanting the freedom you had before kids,

But knowing you couldn't live without them.

It's crushing sleep deprivation and fatigue,

But missing them when they go to bed.

It's constant overstimulation,

But loving the tender snuggles and sloppy kisses.

It's always needing a break,

But never wanting to miss out.

It's feeling stress and guilt,

But also feeling incredible joy, immense pride, and unconditional love.

--

Luna turns 3 years old today. I thought it would be nice to reflect on her life so far.

It took me a while to decide on a format. As I was scrolling through 3 years of pictures, I realized this post could rival a Harry Potter book in length if I don't find a constraint.

Ultimately, I decided to assign a theme to each of her 3 years, and a little context as to why I chose it.

This post is written as a letter to Luna - just in case she ever decides to come back and read this.

Enjoy.

0 ➡️ 1: A Silver Lining

OK, so you were born during a PANDEMIC! That was crazy. (Google: "Covid-19")

Immediately after you were born, Mommy got a fever so they separated us. You went to the nursery, we went to the COVID-ward.

We didn't see you for three, maybe four(?), days. But the nurses were super accommodating. They Facetimed with us multiple times per day to let us know you were living your best life being waited on hand and foot.

Although COVID was an objectively terrible episode for the human race, there ended up being a silver lining for us as new parents.

Because of the lockdown, we were FULLY focused on you. Getting to know you was easier because we weren't distracted by our social calendar, commutes, working in an office for 8 hours/day, etc.

Equally important, we got to know ourselves as parents. Being at home gave us a lot of time to think about how we wanted to raise you.

1 ➡️ 2: Physical & Developmental Leaps

You were a little late to the whole crawling / walking thing. We were starting to get worried.

Admittedly, it was my fault. I couldn't put you down. I used to say, this princess's feet don't touch the ground.

You did, however, enjoy swimming lessons - which we started right around the 1-year-old mark.

We also took 2 trips the summer after your first birthday. The first was to Long Island at the beginning of summer and the second was to Cancun towards the end of summer.

Those two trips taught us something really important. Getting out of our routine and exploring new places was a cheat code to turbocharging your development.

After the trip to Long Island, your vocabulary quadrupled overnight.

Then, at 16 months, you (finally) figured out how to walk the day after we came home from Cancun.

Now anytime you seem to be stuck or struggling with something, Mommy and I joke that a vacation would definitely fix it.

2 ➡️ 3: Soft Skills & Relationships

It turns out you are your mother's daughter - quite the talker.

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm".

- Winston Churchill

I think of this quote almost every time we go grocery shopping at Costco or Trader Joe's.

You just keep smiling, waving, and saying hi to people as I'm pushing you around in the cart.

Half of the people you say hi to don't even acknowledge you. They either have their headphones in or they're too preoccupied with choosing which box of strawberries they want to buy.

But you're unphased. You just keep putting yourself out there by going first. The amount of conversations you've struck up in the check-out line is absolutely insane.

Based on your behavior with complete strangers, it's no surprise you've built strong, meaningful relationships with almost everyone you see consistently.

This became especially evident when we celebrated your 3rd birthday party at school, which also happened to double as a goodbye party because we decided to move you to a new school.

Your teachers and classmates blew us away with these amazing gifts. Seeing someone outside our immediate family & friends circle shower you with love is such an amazing feeling.

And this is weird to say, but it got me thinking - that if your mom and I got into a freak accident and weren't around anymore... There's no shortage of people who would step up to make sure you were properly guided and taken care of for the rest of your life.

3 & Beyond

If I had a prediction for this year, I think it involves you further embracing your role as a big sister.

Luca is so lucky to have you. I will continue to remind him of that daily.

Looking forward to what's in store.

Love,

Daddy