Dear Grace and Hazel-
Your mom and I have now spent a week being the parents of two children and we feel like the luckiest, most relieved and tired people in the world. You are both beautiful and completely different from each other and from anything we could have expected 4 and a half years ago, when we met and gave up our “normal” lives.
Grace- you are the most independent, funny, stubborn and loving little girl. You love almost everything and everyone you meet. You say hi and give hugs and kisses to people and trees and cars and dogs and anything else that crosses your path. You love to color, push your toy stroller around the house (with anything from your dolls to your toothbrush to several pieces of cereal in it) and throw memorable tantrums when things don’t go your way. The funny thing (or “fuddy” to you) is that even your tantrums are cute to us. You spontaneously potty trained yourself and then lost interest in the potty. You like to recite the alphabet with us, but you will only do it yourself when you are alone with your dolls. You can count to 10 but you omit 4 and 6 most of the time. You love to watch Sesame Street (but you call it “Elmo”) and you love Cookie Monster, Elmo and Ernie the best. We rarely know what to expect with you, Grace. When we think something is going to make you mad, you shrug your shoulders and roll with it. On the other hand, if we hand you the wrong color cup full of water, you express your disapproval by hitting the ground with your adorable head…repeatedly.
Hazel- Welcome to our little family. Until we met you, your mom and I couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as we love your sister. We thought there was somehow a finite amount of love that we had to dole out, but we were wrong. You are already so very different from your sister that you simultaneously remind us of all of the things we love about her while still being your own person and you are only a week old. While Grace liked to be left alone in her crib and we thanked our lucky stars that she was “easy”, you like to be held and cuddled and we have found out how much that warms our hearts and the hearts of everyone that has met you so far. You mark a new adventure for us that is both scary and exciting as we try to figure out what you like and what you don’t. Currently your likes include food, pacifiers and the swing and your dislikes include waking up, waiting for food or pacifiers and diaper changes.
Grace and Hazel, you met for the first time a couple days ago. Hazel regarded you, Grace, in the same way she does almost everything she sees, as a blurry blob that is not mommy’s boob. You will most certainly mean more to her than that as she gets to know you. You, on the other hand, have had almost 22 more months to form opinions about things (which you certainly do) and we were very interested to gauge your reaction. Initially, you didn’t know what to make of this new part of your life. You pointed and smiled and were clearly excited that something new had happened but you still don’t quite know what. Over the last few days, we noticed that you start to cry when you hear your sister cry and you have started to say “Hazel” before “Elmo” when you wake up in the morning which is as clear a sign as any that a bond is forming.
Your mom and I love you both very much and we look forward to the coming months and years as you grow up as individuals as well as sisters.
Love, Mom and Dad
