You're a little weirdo, sometimes. You know that?

Some days, you're a bit like a puppy, you slobber a lot. And other times you're more like a little monkey when you grab at things with a mighty grip and end up pulling me to the floor by my thumb or nearly taking off your father's nose. Once, actually, twice, you stole my glasses right off my face. And then you laughed! The nerve! But then, your laugh is pretty wonderful, and you are the reason I feel so alive lately, alive in a way I have never felt before, so I don't mind the thievery. You are my little buddy.

You are my private and I your captain when we saunter around the house, you blanket around my shoulders like a cape, my bare feet sneaking across the floor and yours kicking against my chest. And we are goofy together, we play games and you laugh with your gummy smile and I feel like my soul is lighting up into a million fireworks. I find that, in those moments, nothing matters more than your smile, and I would do anything to get another.

And you are my little strange creature friend, a something companion from a fantasy book I can't quite put my finger on because you are not quite human but are so very baby, and I have never really been around a baby. You're like the cutest alien partner on some wild expedition that causes me a little trouble when you cry because it brings down a sleeping avalanche, but the moments by the makeshift fire singing you to sleep make the skies open up and the path ahead clear and I don't understand how I could ever doubt bringing you along. You are the greatest companion on this journey, this stretch. And I know I will have others, I know there will be other companions, but I am not like the others, and neither are you. Twenty years without a girl and you are the first beyond me. You are my connection, little girl, and you will always come first.

When you are walking and kicking at the sand on the shore, and I wonder what thoughts are in your head. When we are in the forest and I see that pick of adventurous fear in your eyes that look for monsters hiding among the trees, you see only leaves and stones and water and laugh at what you found, though it is not like the story you read. You come first. Always, above partners, above friends, above all, little girl, because you are my ultimate companion. My littlest friend, my dearest girl, my Iris. I am here for you, through snowfall of tired screams, broken hearts and the daunting tasks that come with the brightest dreams. I am here, my girl, my iris, my friend.