Midsummer days

Dearest Sunniva,

I find it hard to write because my heart is so full of emotions that my fingers don't quite know where to begin. Every moment with you is so precious, so charged with curiosity, wonder, discovery and learning, that it can leave our heads spinning whenever your give us an hour or two to ourselves and we have a chance to reflect on it all.

Yes, you require constant energy and attention (and we are happy to give it to you!) but you are also becoming more independent now as you grow from baby to toddler into a real little girl! This month was marked by Mamina and Bhapu-ji's visit from America, which we all savored even more this time after the heart attack last year, and by Mommy's birthday, which we celebrated in the mountains of Rauland, where we saw a moose, a wild hare and caught a trout. Here are some highlights:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/116634188852734304288/albums/6028086044266473649

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9C8z8iq-_M

Mamina and Bhapu-ji brought you lots of wonderful books from America that they read to me when I was a little boy. Now when I read them to you and we explore together the fantastical world of children's literature, I imagine writing a book about you and having Auntie Liv, Tante Kathrine and Mamina do the illustrations. I dream of all the adventures you are going to have in your life, and all the exciting things that we will do as a family, and I want to capture it all.

The balance between documenting precious moments and actually being present to experience them fully is a tricky one in 2014, at least for someone like me who enjoys the ease with which technology allows us to click, swipe and share our lives in the beat of a drum. Have we taken enough pictures and video? Yes. Can we possibly keep it up? No, yes, maybe. What do we do with it all?!

I guess these questions will answer themselves, and the inexorable trajectory of your life will draw us all along in ways we can't imagine now. I remember Mamina and Bhapu-ji saying to each other as they watched you play in our laps, "We know how this story ends," because they have watched Olivia and me grow up and can now sit and marvel at what our family has become. You are our legacy, their legacy, and their parents' before them.

But enough of old people's nostalgia! This blog is meant to be about you, as Dr. John Watson's is about Sherlock Holmes (we are currently enjoying seasons two and three of the exquisite BBC series Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch, which premiered when we were living in London).

Back to literature then. You absolutely love reading, and being read to, and as this has been a constant in your life since you were a tiny baby, it is deeply rewarding to see that it has influenced your prodigious spoken language abilities. We remain in awe of how quickly you learn new words, and that you are able to learn several new words in a day. Just yesterday I reviewed the parts of the body we've been working on recently - 'knee' 'eyebrow' 'toes' 'foot' - and you repeated them all instantaneously and with excellent enunciation (Mamina and Bhapu-ji were particularly impressed by this last skill of yours).

You are developing physically as well, and although not quite as quickly, we did buy your first pair of shoes this week - pink suede! You've learned to stand up by yourself now and can stay standing for several minutes, but you get quite frustrated as you don't know how to get down yet! Your army style Komodo dragon crawl is all but gone (sniff, sniff!) and you now shoot across the floor on all fours. You are fearless in your climbing and exploring, and when you tumble (360s, 720s, twists like a freestyle snowboarder that we find most amusing) you rarely cry. When you do all we have to do is clap our hands or sing a song and you're your smiling, confident self again.

How else would I describe you? You are intrepid, curious, highly intelligent, funny, strong, kind, open, friendly and sociable. You love people (and you call them all 'baby' regardless of age) and animals and books and flowers (to eat!). Despite your tummy troubles that have prevented you from ever having a full night's sleep, you have always woken up - every single morning - in the best of moods; our little sunshine, full of laughter and joy, a sparkle in your eyes, ready to play and learn and love. You are a role model for us - the most wonderful little girl in the whole world!

Love,
Daddy