You are the sun, the music, the bright spot in our lives, and today we celebrate the day of your arrival. We remember it like yesterday - the anticipation, the excitement, the exact moment we first saw your beautiful face. But today a sweet poignancy brings awareness of the slippage of time, a truth that is driven home as we watch you chase a pet while signing dog, 
practically running down the hallway past the picture of you at only 1 week old. Oh the things that have happened since then! In the past month alone you have started stacking blocks, and putting your toys away all on your own; you started dancing to the music you have always loved; your walking has improved enough that you actually spend part of our evening walks out of the stroller; and you are eating more and more foods, and beginning to learn to drink out of a glass.
What has really amazed us, though, is your developing 
ability to communicate. You have started to use baby sign language! You sign "more" while you are eating, and have a tentative version of "eat" as well. You also sign "dog" and can sign "cat," although it looks suspiciously like clapping or the sign for the "more," and you sign "duck" and "nurse" as well. You watch us carefully now when we sign to you and we see the dawning of understanding on your face and know that it won't be long before you have more signs. 
And even beyond the signs you are working very hard to communicate, using varying sounds (some more pleasant than others), expressions, and even hands motions, like pointing. It is becoming clear that you understand a lot about the world in which you live, and we are simply amazed by you. Happy birthday Calvin. We thank you for coming into our lives, turning them upside down and inside out, and brining us the beautiful light of hope. We cannot wait to find out what the next year has in store for the three of us!
