Our Greatest Adventure Yet

Dear little one,

We haven’t met formally yet, but you’ve certainly heard my voice and kicked me to remind me you’re there more than a few times. Your father and I are so terrified excited for your arrival next week, so I thought I’d write you a little note to let you know what’s on my mind in these last days before you enter the world.

Up until now, your father and I have enjoyed traveling to far flung locations, going out to eat whenever we feel like (which is often) and generally doing what we wanted when we wanted. Although I’m a bit sad to see that life end, I know we are about to embark on our biggest adventure yet.

I hope you have appreciated the steady stream of cupcakes, cookies and sweet tarts I’ve plied you with these last months. It seems that all of my carefully managed pre-pregnancy willpower was overridden by you. I’m certain it won’t be the last time you dictate my behavior. And one day, probably when you are exasperating me, I will remind you that just for little ol’ you, I gave up two of my great loves – wine and sushi. I admit, I ignored the rule about soft cheeses and smoked salmon. So far, you seem to be OK with my fudging of the rules.

We know our life is going to change dramatically next week, but we also hope that we can teach you to love some of the things that we love. Please, little darling, don’t be one of those children who exclusively eats chicken fingers. Sure, they are delicious, but I promise to make meal time fun and expose you to the wonderful world of adventurous tastes that awaits you. I have already diligently saved articles about how to introduce your baby to spices, so we’ll see how it goes. And you’ll certainly have favorite pass times I can’t even guess at yet, but I dream of Sundays spent baking together. If you will indulge me, I promise you can lick the spoon!

We’ve already bought our baby carrier so you can ride shotgun as we explore the world around us. Our travels may not be as frequent or quite as exotic for a while, but we will work hard to instill in you the curiosity and wanderlust that has sent us to places as far flung as Morocco, South Africa, Paris and Colombia over the last few years. Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

We’ve spent 38 weeks together at this point, and though you have made me unwieldy and scatterbrained, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is a small price to pay for the pleasure of your company.

Sweet girl, in the words of Dorothy Kilgallen, “the world is grand, awfully big and astonishingly beautiful, frequently thrilling,” and it will be all the better for having you in it. Let the adventure begin!