Dear Julia,

Today you're one year old, and I wanted to write you a letter about who you've become in the last year, so you can go back and read it later and find out about what you were like when you were little. Some day it will remind me of what you were like as well.

It's amazing to me how smart and active you are. For the first six months of your life, you didn't do a lot but cry and eat and poop, usually in that order.

I still remember the night in September when you first whispered "da da". I'm still not sure you know what it means, but you clearly knew that you were talking and not just making noise. Alex called his best friend, Adam, to tell him you were talking. He was very excited.

Around Thanksgiving, when you were about eight months old, you began to notice the world around you.We'd hold up a blanket and say "Where's Julia?" and then drop the blanket and say, "There she is!". You'd smile. But in just a few days, you grabbed the blanket away from me, held it in front of your face for a couple of seconds, and then dropped it. What a smile! Now you were running the game and you loved it.

You recognized dogs and shouted, "do'" every time you saw one. You figured out how to wave "bye bye".

You also started to help when I was dressing you. I could get you to lift your arms and put them through the sleeves of your shirt.

Now, you're really engaged with the world around you. You don't say "do'" any more. Now everything is a "ca'". Not just Felix. Even Fireball, our big yellow dog and your first animal friend, is now "ca'". I love helping you pet the cat. If I tell you to "be gentle", you'll pet him (or Fireball) with only one finger. His fur is very soft and I can tell you enjoy the way it feels in your hand. I still have to be very careful that you don't pull his tail.

When Mom sings "Three Little Ducks" for you, you sing "Quack, quack, quack" right along with her. If she says "clap hands", you clap your hands together, usually with a big smile.

It's fascinating to watch you learn. You've gone from moving your head away from the spoon to shaking your head (with your lips closed tight) to say "No". I remember the first time you shook your head to tell me that you didn't want me to put your socks on (you hate socks). How did you make the leap from "don't put that in my mouth" to "don't put those socks on me"?

You're big and strong. I think everybody is surprised how tall you are. Dr. Kasuga says you're bigger than 95% of babies your age. If you don't want to be held, I don't know anyone who's strong enough to hold you.

You still don't have much hair. Mom's still very conscious of it and mentions it every time she introduces you to someone. I don't notice. I guess all babies are bald to me.

You've just starting to walk. Your record is six steps. And just last night, you got right up again after falling down and walked another six, instead of finishing the trip on your hands and knees.

You're beautiful. You're very serious and don't smile and laugh a lot. You seem very thoughtful. And when you smile, it's wonderful. Alas, it has been very hard to get you to smile for the camera, so we don't have a lot of pictures of you smiling.

Julia, you're incredible. You're strong, smart, and beautiful. I'm grateful for you ever day. I'm looking forward to watching you grow and making your way in the world.

Happy birthday,

Dad

On my third week, I got some rest.

On my second week, I got to know my family.

On my first week, I met my dog Fireball and my cat Felix, met my Grandma Carol, went to San Francisco, and went shopping. Whew!

I was born at 1am on March 12, 2002 in Burlingame, California.