Dear Katherine and Elizabeth,

It is February 28th today, and one year ago, your daddy and I were spending our last day together as “almost parents”. We had a lovely sleep in morning, got packed for the hospital, went out for a late lunch/early dinner (where mommy had her favorite meal: Chicken Molé), and checked into the hospital to be monitored overnight before the c-section. I was a bundle of nerves. And here we are, a year later.

Strangely, tomorrow is not your birthday, because we are in a leap year. That never meant much to me before. It was just a cool thing where we had an extra day to the year. Now, I’m thinking about all the leap years to come. Maybe we will have two birthdays those years. One on February 29th and one on your actual birthday, March 1!

All in all, it has been a crazy ride. You came into the world one minute apart at 5 pounds 2 oz (Kat) and 6 pounds even (Bee). You are now 22 (Kat) and 24 (Bee) pounds! And you are busy busy busy.

Katherine is crawling, standing, and even taking some hesitant independent steps! You love to yell and make noise. Food time is your favorite! You like almost everything, and are an extremely proficient eater even though you only have 1 and a half teeth (the top two)! You love to snuggle when you’re ready to sleep; you love to find alllllll the pacifiers, and have recently started putting them in everyone’s mouth including your own. You never stop moving and are just so curious! You are starting to want to play with your sister more and have made great strides in being gentle and sweet. When your sister cries, you try to give her a pacifier or a hug! At meal times, you like to reach across to hold your sister’s hand while you eat.

Elizabeth is crawling all over and pulling up on all the things! You are such a snuggle bug and love to be held! You are very social and really want to talk. Recently, you said your first attempt at words (“pretty pretty”) and the next day very clearly said “baby”! It is so fun to watch you learn! You are very particular about food, but when it is a food you like (ham, toast, and grapes to name a few) you are all about it! You are learning to love playing with your sister and frequently can be seen in a fit of giggles as you entertain each other! You love to hold your sister’s hand at meal times but only for a little bit because Kat holds your left hand which is the one you use to eat (just like mom)!

I still wake up every morning to you guys both chattering away and saying “mamamamama”. Your birthday party is tomorrow and it’s your golden birthday! Your mom is not very good at the whole Pinterest (will this still be a thing when you’re old enough to read these letters? If not it was a website [are they still called that?!?] where you would “pin” things to a digital “board”; often the pins were waaaay over the top ideas that mommy just can’t replicate) decorating thing, but thankfully you’ve got family coming tonight to help mommy get all the pink and white and gold things up for tomorrow!

I can’t wait my sweet girls, but also I wouldn’t mind it lasting a little longer!

Love, Mommy (and your sleeping snoring Daddy!)