Eleven Months — jaimejoshi.com

Dear Will:

I was putting off writing this month’s letter because I’m not quite sure how to process the fact that you are almost a year old.

I remember finding out you existed - bleary eyed at 5:45am on a Tuesday morning in February 2020 - and then, I blinked and here you are - crawling around at high speeds, yelling your opinions to anyone willing to listen and constantly trying to splash in the dogs’ water bowl.

(I was going to ask you to please stop doing that because the dogs are gross little raccoons but I let those gross little raccoons kiss my face and yours, so eh. Just….don’t drink the water. The big bowl is like, 75% Indiana backwash/slobber)

You were my baby. My tiny little one and now, you’re this little adventurer.

You took your first road trip this month - we drove up to Gainesville for a night and then, continued onto West Georgia. I was a little nervous about you spending that much time in the car but you were pretty amazing. We hung out in the backseat, we played with toys, we read books, we ate a ton of Cheerios and you took some epic naps.
I hope the road trip becomes a part of our lives - Daddy and I in the front, you and Indiana in the back and The Allman Brothers on the radio.

You stayed in a hotel for the first time and LOVED it. Crawling around all over the room, clambering all over the bed and splashing around in the tub as if it was your own personal pool.

We hung out with your cousins at the Great Wolf Lodge and you got to see FDR’s Southern White House which is a damn sight more impressive than the “Winter White House” down the street from us.

If I teach you anything, Willow - let it be this: super fuck that dude.

Anyway!

You also got to spend a lot of time with Masi this month.

She came down for a week for the sole purpose of spoiling you rotten.

She brought a little splash pool for you, she took you to the zoo and she kept you in treats all week long.

And then, you got to see her again a couple of weeks later and she fed you chips and queso!

And you’ll get to see her again next week where odds are, she’ll probably feed you chips and queso again. Best life ever.

Masi is probably my favorite person other than you and your dad, so I’m really happy you guys have a good relationship. So many things you do remind me of her and I hope you know that she loves you no matter what.

Your eating habits are on par with the average Hobbit and you are a firm believer in sharing as evidenced by this picture where you’re trying to convince Daddy to fork over some cinnamon bun.

You have a voracious appetite and definitely have your mama’s appetites. You love Mexican/Tex-Mex food - devouring beans, queso, tortillas and huevos rancheros.

Earlier this week, you even had corn and hatch chile chowder despite the fact that it was legitimately spicy.

You love eggplant - soft and unctuous, napped in garlicky tomato sauce - you love Mama’s spinach lasagna (the trick is to puree the spinach and mix it into the ricotta) and while you inhale bread, you’re not a fan when it’s dipped in olive oil. We’ll work on this because good bread and olive oil is one of life’s most beautiful gifts.

If I can ask anything at all, it’s this - please stay this way. The world is full of incredible flavors and I want to share them with you.

Please don’t become a toddler and decide that fries/nugs/mac and cheese are the only things worth eating. These things are delicious but there is so much more out there.

You’re becoming more and more independent by the way - pulling yourself up by the furniture, crawling and exploring, eating dirt and dog hair - and I am so proud of you for that. You find excitement around every corner and joyfully proclaim, “Buh!” with every new sight.

One of your favorite activities is hanging out in the sunshine and watering the plants with Daddy and Indiana Bo’ and Mommy is constantly working on finding fun activities for us to do outside.

When you can stand and toddle around properly, we’re gonna spend lots of time at splash pads and I’m totally going to start researching hiking trips for us in North Georgia, Blue Ridge and Appalachia.

If I can teach you something else, Willow - let it be this: America’s National Parks system is incredible and we are so lucky to have access to the natural wonder than we do.

The world is wide and wild and you’re just starting to explore. As you grow older, I hope you explore far.

Daddy and I started watching Roadrunner the other day - the documentary about Anthony Bourdain.

Mama started weeping about fifteen minutes in because I realized that you’re growing up in a world without Bourdain and Charlie Watts - two men I adore.

I promise you that I’ll keep the legacies of both of these men flickering in our lives. We will travel far, we will eat well, we will keep metronome steady, we’ll listen to Let It Bleed all the damn time - you like Country Honk and that’s a great start - and when you grow weary and the world gets to be a little too much?