Dear Claire:

Two years ago, our lives completely changed. I’ll be honest, for those first couple of weeks I wondered what we got ourselves into. It was nothing but everything that I expected. It started with your birth, which I went into with what I thought was an open mind. My requirements: (1) a healthy baby girl and (2) an epidural because I was well aware of my pain tolerance. That’s at least what I communicated about but subconsiously I wanted so much more. I didn’t want a c-section. I didn’t want to be in labor for a long time. I didn’t want to have my hormones hop on a rollercoaster. But, it all happened. It took me a while to talk about it as non-chalantly as I do now but, man, in the moment I was a mess. I wanted what I thought was happening in all the post-birth photos of a mother and her child. The “mommy high” where you can barely sleep because you are so overjoyed. I ended up crying more than I ever expected. I was so completely overwhelmed with the amount of emotions swirling through my body. I felt homesick for the times when Daddy and I could spontaneously have a date night. I was unconvinced that there was light at the end of the tunnel. But I am so incredibly happy to say that I was wrong. You are our light, our joy, and so much more.

Two years later, I am so happy to say that you make everything more magical. Seeing the world through your eyes is the most wonderful thing, words can’t express it. It didn’t take us two years to get here but with every stage brought new fun, new adventures, and new things to discover about each other. We’ve only known you for two years but, at the same time, I feel like I’ve always known you. I think back to memories before you were born and strangely, have you inserted into them, as if you were always there with us. We love you more than words can explain and with the amount of love that you given us, I can understand why your birth and first weeks were so dramatic, you wanted us to know that everything we’ve ever known was about to change but in the most beautiful way.

We love you.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy