She’s not 1 yet.

She is not even 11 months yet.

Yes, her birthday is next month.

Yes, I can’t believe it either.

But she is not there yet.

Let her be 10 months.

Let her be content to crawl and climb and pull to stand.

She doesn’t need to stand on her own yet.

She doesn’t need to walk quite yet.

Let her be her baby self,

less than a year old

less than 11 months old.

Babbling, clapping, smiling, waving.

This is the youngest she will ever be

and the oldest she has ever been.

Yes, she will be 1 soon.

But we’ll handle that when we’re older.

•••

5/15/24