Dear Lily, Happy 6th Birthday Little Monkey!

Dear Lily,

Happy 6th Birthday my Little Monkey!  The world is a better place with you in it.  Your laugh is infectious.  You are so kind and a good friend.  You give the best cuddles and I am so proud of you.

You constantly surprise me with your drive to try new sports and activities and your tenacity with which you tackle life.  You came into this world little and tiny, but no one would ever guess that now.  I think your love of life comes from your tiny start in this world.  At 3lbs 15ozs you had to fight extra hard for everything, but you did it and did it overwhelmingly well. After you lost your birth weight and got down to 3lbs 6ozs the NICU nurses started to explain how feeding tubes worked, I think to prep me for the fact that they were sure you would need one being so tiny and all, but you didn’t.  You were tenacious from the get go.  You ate, slept, pooped, and screamed like a champ!

I was always amazed at what my teeny tiny little baby was capable of.  You were determined to get on with your life and show this place what you were made of.  You only spent 13 days in that NICU and came home weighing a whopping 4lbs 6ozs.  I was a little intimidated with such a little baby, but nothing intimidated you. Today you are smart and beautiful inside and out.  Watching you dance fills my heart.  Listening to you explain things to me in ways that are beyond your years is amazing.  You have are so funny, goofy, silly, and full of life in a GREAT way.  Never let anyone make you feel like you need to be a follower. You are very good at being a leader and marching to your own drummer. I love you so much and I am so grateful that I get to be your mom on this amazing journey called life. Keep it up little Lily Beanz! The world is yours for the taking 🙂

xoxo,

Mama