Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!
Miss Lilith turned seven today. My baby, my first baby and my only girl, is seven. I can’t tell you how the last seven years have changed me, how I have become the person I was supposed to be by becoming a mother. I can’t tell you how many kisses I’ve given and been given, how many sleepless nights I’ve had, how many times my heart has bubbled outside the confines of my body. My motherhood began with a traumatic labor and delivery seven years ago today, and I am so glad.
Lily had a raucous, lively birthday party dinner complete with Jukebox Pizza last night. Four friends spent the night. It all turned out well, with Lily saying this morning, before they left, that it was her “best birthday yet.” Well, she spent the rest of her day whining, crying and, thank God, napping. This is a girl who doesn’t do well when she doesn’t get enough sleep. So I’m not sure when the next sleepover will take place, but this one made her happy while it lasted.
She did calm down enough tonight for me to tell her a couple of stories from the day she was born as I gave her a bath. When daddy and a nurse accompanied Lily in her Isolette out of the operating room, I’m told our family and friends in the hallway swore she was a boy because of her overwhelmingly loud cries and the air behind them. She had the most perfect rosebud mouth, the best complexion and a striking palette of dark hair, blue eyes and red lips. Even in those early, overwhelming days of new motherhood, I was so incredibly entranced with her soft pinkness, her angel face.
After her bath, I got to read her one of our favorite books: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Lily sweetly sang along to the refrain that repeats throughout the book, which I can’t help but sing:
I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always
As long as I’m living,
My baby you’ll be….
I really am so proud of my tall, smart, conscientious little girl. She’s a helper and a learner. She is curious and kind and happy. I am blessed beyond measure that God gave me a girl. She is not only a precious part of me, but an amazing separate self.
Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!
I love that reading your posts give me chills! Amazing writing and I hope to one day share these memories with my own!