A Letter to My Daughter Maeve on Her First Birthday

You and me today – just a couple weeks after you turned one

July 30, 2014

Precious awesome little person! My daughter Maeve,

I love you and I love being with you. So much I can feel it in every cell. As I look back at pictures I am struck with how much you have grown and learned in one year. So much more than you will ever grow in one year again. It seems to have gone so fast and its an interesting experience to love someone who is changing so much – its hard to not want it to go slower. You have been so continuously occupied with becoming you I feel like I have been able to perceive only a part of it.

Just a few weeks after you were born

Your birth went very well. You, your dad and I were at home surrounded by great people and there was lots of family near by eagerly waiting to meet you. Once labor started it ramped up quickly and the process was purely intuitive. We did great. And when you came out it was a truly amazing moment. There YOU were and we were so happy.

I want to write to you at your birthday every year about the proceeding year and some of the things you or we did and hope that you enjoy reading these letters in the future.

Maeve’s First Birthday, Three Generations of First Birthday Photos

Three generations of first birthdays: left to right: Susan Palmer, Carrie Lincourt, and Maeve Linton Lincourt. Larger versions of these photos below.

Our daughter Maeve turned one this week. Carrie and I were pretty skeptical about one-year-old’s birthday parties. We’ve seen more than one child have a crying melt-down when there are a dozen-plus older kids running around and lots of noise and attention and confusion. So we opted for a low-key celebration at Maeve’s grandfather’s home in Orange County. Just a handful of family members. Here’s a video of the occasion. We’re sure that there will be bigger birthday celebrations in Maeve’s future.

Maeve turned one on July 30th. She’s doing well. Very healthy. She walks 2-5 steps here and there, but mostly she’s crawling, and frequently cruising holding onto tables, chairs, our legs, and other stuff. She’s saying mama, maaaaaaah!, and dada, too.

Appreciations on Joe’s 50th Birthday

As a way to commemorate this milestone birthday of 50 years my love, I asked your family and a few of your close friends to write messages of appreciation for you.  They wrote some pretty great, thoughtful messages which are included here:

From your nephew Miles Gastil:

Happy Birthday Uncle Joe!

I hope you have an amazing birthday. You deserve it! I am so happy you now have a family to call your own. I know you will be as good as a father as you are an uncle. You have been a wonderful influence in my life and I look forward to becoming closer with your growing immediate family. You’re an amazing artist who constantly inspires me to draw. I look at your sketches and paintings and see them as a goal for me to someday achieve that kind of beauty in my drawings. I also enjoy playing chess with you and look forward to more games, and helping you teaching your kid how to play someday. Happy Birthday Uncle Joe.

Love you guys! Miles

From your nephew Garrett Gastil:

Happy 50th Birthday Uncle Joe!

You have always been one of the most fun people to be around. When I was a kid, I remember that I would always be excited to see you because you would pick me up and throw me around your body.

Newborn Maeve at Five Weeks: One-Month Check-Up, My Birthday and More

Happy parents Carrie and Joe with our 5-week-old daughter Maeve. We don’t have a lot of photos of the three of us together… this one was taken by Carrie’s brother Bob earlier today.

It’s been a relatively uneventful week for baby Maeve, born July 30th 2013, about to turn five weeks old as I post this. Yesterday, my wife Carrie posted some of her thoughts at one month. I am going to post briefly with plenty of photos and a few thoughts. I’ve been posting weekly updates on my our daughter’s progress, find earlier ones here.

Maeve sure looks cute when she’s sleeping and moving around