Birthday Happenings

On Sunday, my baby girl turns three. Three!?! Amazing. I am incredibly proud of the little person she is turning out to be but I sure do miss my little baby. I was talking with her tonight about what a big girl she is growing up to be and how much fun I have with her now. She asked if she was fun as a "tiny baby" and I honestly told her that no, she wasn't all that much fun as a tiny baby but as a bigger baby, she was a lot of fun but no where near as much fun as she is now. Smart girl that she is said "I cry lot as a tiny baby." Matter of fact. Just like that. I said "Yes, honey, you really did cry a lot as a tiny baby."

Someone once (very wisely) told me at Kaylen's two week check up that some infants really don't enjoy being infants but once they can start to move and do things for themselves, they became completely different children. All I could do then was hold back the tears and nod, praying to God it was true. She was a miserable newborn. It came as quite a shock to us since her brother had been a dream of a newborn.

When she was 16 days old we traveled up to see my family and introduce her to them. When we were getting ready to come back home we put her in her car seat and it had one of those snug-ride fleece cover things on it that could zip up to keep her warm. Well - she enjoyed her car seat then even less then she enjoys it now so you can imagine the screaming that ensued. Kelton, in his not quite 3 year old voice said "Quick Mommy! Close it up so we can't hear her!" If only it had been that easy. :) Kelton spent many, many car rides with his blanket over his head and fingers in his ears. Thankfully, over time he grew used to her screaming.

But you know - right about 4.5 months old she stopped being such a fuss-budget and started becoming a real charmer. For us. For anyone else she was still not a happy camper. By six months she was crawling all over the place and her personality started to shine. I have to say, those early months were some of the longest I've *ever* experienced. I started this blog when Kaylen was 5 months old and though I haven't read back in a long time, I'm sure I never even came close to capturing what life was really like in those early months.

Do I miss those months? In some ways no but in some ways yes. I just can't believe that almost three years have gone by since the day she came into the world. I wish I could go back and relive so many parts of it all - to really take in all that was rushed through - those moments that you thought would last forever are forever gone. Knowing what I know now....knowing all this, I would go back and relive it (well - we can skip the scary not wanting to breathe upon being born and spending 4 days in the NICU but after that would be good).

I spent the day cleaning the house and getting things ready. Tomorrow James and Cara arrive for a visit and Saturday is Kaylen's party. After the kids were in bed tonight I wrapped the gifts we have for her and tomorrow night Dakota will probably spend time putting together the Dora trike (she said she wanted a bike but they just don't come small enough for her. Hopefully she will love it just the same.) This afternoon the UPS guy dropped off the pretty white box; a gift from our dear friend, Stella. The gift backs for the cousins are ready to go. The cake will be ready for pick up Saturday morning and I'll get ice cream and balloons then as well. Somewhere along the line we'll get chip, dip, drinks, veggie platter, etc. I think it's all coming together.

My baby girl is turning three. I just can't believe it.

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