To My Daughter On Her First Birthday

A Letter To My Daughter on Her 1st Birthday

Aria at one

I have seen other bloggers do write letters to their children on their birthdays and I think it is such a lovely idea. I wish I had done it the last three years for my son. I hope it will help me remember the little things we always seem to forget as our children grow. And when they are older will give them something to look back on, to learn and know how much they are loved and what they achieved.

Dearest Aria,

I always wanted a girl. I was convinced in my first pregnancy I was having one and then the 20 week scan proved me wrong. When your brother was born, he was totally perfect and if someone had offered me the chance to swap him for a girl, I would have told them where to go.

We expected it to take me longer to get pregnant, your brother made us wait 2.5 years you see, but you happened in an amazing four months. I felt so much sicker with you and had cravings for apples. Lots and lots of apples, even once in the middle of the night. Your Daddy was totally bewildered to wake up to me crunching one in bed next to him.

So many people were convinced I was having a girl, adamant in fact and you decided to keep your legs firmly crossed at your 20 week scan, so you were a surprise. Until two weeks before you were born you were going to be called Isla if you were a girl. I had my heart set on it. Then, in your Daddy’s way he had a chat with his hairdresser who told him how popular Isla was and then just like that, he changed his mind. We really struggled to come up with an alternative name we both loved that wasn’t very popular, and then settled on Aria because of both of our love of music. Your Daddy wasn’t sure at first, but I know he loves it now.

This past year has been tough at times, it wasn’t your fault of course. Silent reflux and cow’s milk protein allergy have not been your friends, and for a while Daddy and I couldn’t work out why you cried all the time and were so sad. But after we found the right medication and changed your diet you were so much happier.

It does mean that you don’t like to be parted from Mummy very much, you used to nurse for pain relief and even now associate me with comfort. But that’s ok, because that is what Mummies are here for. It’s my job to put you first, although if you could let me escape a little bit more, maybe go back to my singing lessons soon I would be grateful ;-). I’m glad I chose to give up work when I was pregnant with you, I’m not sure you would cope very well with childcare. Actually I think it would make you very unhappy, some girls just need their Mums.

As you reach one year’s old it’s lovely to see your personality develop. You are such a force of nature so determined and strong willed and passionate about things that make you happy. You are going to have a stunning career ahead of you with that determination, I can see it already.

You love your food, which after the feeding aversion you had when you were tiny is fantastic. Your favourites at the moment are pasta, meat, grapes, sandwiches and you adore rich tea biscuits.

Your favourite game is peek-a-boo and your brother regularly makes you laugh – he’s taught you how to blow raspberries the little monkey and Logan was one of your first words. Even as I write this and you play by feet you are shouting ‘Logan’ for him to come back and play with you. I absolutely love watching you two start to play together and really hope that this continues. He’s a fab big brother and I am proud of how much he helps you and loves you.

I can see a cheeky little sense of humour emerging too. When I come to pick you up at sometimes, you like to crawl away really fast to get me to catch you. Giggling the whole time. When I tickle you, you throw your head back and laugh with your whole body. You’re also a bit of a dare-devil and love being thrown up high or spun around and around. You’ve also recently discovered swings with glee.

At one, you’re not really standing, only very tentatively if I hold you and only in the past couple of weeks or so have you started crawling on your knees. Your favourite mode of transport for the past few weeks has been the zombie crawl as I call it. You’ve pulled yourself up onto your knees, but not your feet. But have done a rather fab Bambi style impression on all fours hands and feet style.

Do you know what, through all the hard times and I have to admit I never knew what sleep deprivation was until you were born. Do you know, your Daddy cycled to work one day after a particularly bad night and was so tired he cycled into a bush! Through the tears, because I have shed plenty for you, not knowing why you were crying, why you weren’t sleeping, why you were so sad, why you wanted to feed so much, why you refused to feed, because I was so tired I struggled to put one foot in front of another and on some days I refused to drive because I didn’t think I was safe. Through all of this, my wonderful Aria, I wouldn’t swap it for the world. Because you are a funny, sweet, giggly, cuddly bundle of mischief and have filled our house with your sunny smiles.

I can’t wait to see what you do in your second year.

Love Mummy xxxx


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18 thoughts on “To My Daughter On Her First Birthday”

  1. What a lovely piece of writing. When Aria is old enough She will find she has had a very eventful first year. There is no reason why you cannot start a letter to Logan on his next birthday.

    Reply
  2. What a fab letter Laura! she is so cute and I’m sure she will love to read this when she is older! Sylvia also loves playing Peek-a-boo when she was young. Have a fantastic Birthday celebration! Angela x

    Reply
    • Thank you Angela 🙂 I really like the idea of writing letters to my children for every birthday so they can read them when they’re older.

      Reply
  3. Aww what a lovely post, Laura. Aria looks just like you! She has great taste in food & sounds like a fun, energetic little girl. I hope she has a wonderful first birthday today! She will love reading this letter when she’s older, it’s a really lovely idea. xx

    Reply
    • Thank you Becky, she is a indeed a fun, energetic little thing. I think it’s the eyes, both my children have my eyes which I think makes them look quite like me x

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    • Thanks so much Sharon x
      I cannot believe how fast her birthday has come around. She has defiitely blossomed since we got her diet under control 🙂

      Reply
  4. Awh what a beautiful post. I loved oranges when pregnant with my daughter in fact anything orange even if it was just the colour.
    It is scarey how quickly they grow up and how much we forget. So this is a brillint idea.
    I’m sure her big brother has a few other things he plans to teach her.
    Her name is lovely too.
    Happy Birthday to her. X

    Reply
    • Thank you Laura – the name caused us a bit of stress but I really love it now.
      How funny you liked the colour orange too, apparently my mum craved oranges when she was pregnant with me.
      I suspect Logan has plenty of plans up his sleeve too! 😉

      Reply
  5. I’m so happy you chose Aria for your daughter’s name. When I was in high school, my husband and I used to write down names for our future children (pre-marriage, pre-children) and Aria Lily was one of my favorites. We went an alternative route in naming our 2 girls, but I still smile when I think about it. I think I’ve only ever encountered 2 people who have named their children Aria so it’s definitely not an overly used name. Hope she has the happiest of birthdays!

    Reply
    • Well you obviously have great taste in names because my daughter’s middle name is Lily. Her full name Aria Lily Lorna 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by x

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  6. That is such a beautiful and honest letter. I wish I had thought of that when my children were small, not just for them but for me too. You think you will remember everything but time goes so quickly and changes happen so fast. I.Look forward to reading Logan’s letter

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    • You’re right, you forget so much. I really wish I had done this for Logan for every year now. But he wil get one on his next birthday 🙂

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  7. Oh Laura, what a beautiful post. I always mean to write letters to Harry but end up forgetting until after his birthday then it doesn’t feel the right time to do it! X

    Reply
    • Thank you so much Rachel. I am hoping it will help me remember the little things you always forget too. You should do one for Harry, even if a little belated x

      Reply

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