Yes, it’s her birthday today! To her it must have felt like forever — she’s been counting down since her last birthday. Now she can read, write, sing beautifully, swim, dance, you name it. It’s almost impossible to picture how it all began: that tiny little person who was born. What a gift — a healthy baby, still healthy today.
Our daughter Alice had only breastmilk until she was six months old, and only then started solid food. In total, she was breastfed for three years. You can really tell. Her pregnancy was smooth, but the birth itself was difficult, ending in an emergency c-section. Now, seven years already — unbelievable! She’s grown not just tall, but into a clever, independent, helpful girl who is always ready for her little brother and sister.
When I was pregnant, she would sometimes suddenly bring me something to drink and sit with me on the couch. One moment she’s happily crafting, the next she’s playing beautifully with her little brother. She makes friends so easily — I hope that stays true.
I carried my own little brothers when I was six. Since August 2014 she has a baby sister, and she wanted to carry her in the wrap almost right away. That took me a moment to process, but I said yes soon enough — after all, I’d carried my twin brothers from age six myself, back then to help my mother. Now Alice does it for fun, and the baby enjoys it too.
She loves crafting, her teachers can’t stop talking about her, and we’re proud to hear those stories from school. Just recently she came home and said, “Mama, I don’t want to go to my classmate’s birthday party.” I said, “I thought you always enjoyed those.” “No mama, so far we only ever go to the ball pit, I want to experience something different with my classmates.” I thought I’d given a good answer — something about how the birthday child gets to choose, and some kids love ball pits — but no, it turned out to be about something else entirely: the food wasn’t good either. Fries, sure, that’s nice, but apparently it was really about quality. Goodness, are we there already? For her own birthday this year, she’d already suggested we bake a cake together. Quite the demands — but you hear yourself talking, don’t you.
We’re so glad she’s healthy and gets to celebrate her birthday. Happy birthday, Alice! And, well, we never really run out of things to say about her. On to the next birthday.
