Eleven

CED turned eleven today. Eleven. That's hard to fathom. She has been counting down to this day with joy and excitement. Her only request for gifts? Clothes. From Justice. Expensive clothes from Justice. What did she get? Clothes. From Justice. And not a lot of them. But she is happy. Very, very happy.

Reflecting on eleven years ago... I remember going into labor with her. My OB was, unfortunately, on vacation for three weeks and I went into labor with her 2 weeks early. Of course. The 'substitute' doctor was not overly helpful when I called to ask a couple of questions the night before I had her. K kept giving me a hard time, saying that we should head to the hospital. Me, in all my young mother wisdom, kept putting him off. That is, until the contractions began. We lived 45 minutes from the hospital - oops! I did make it there in time and CED did not arrive until the next morning. A beautiful blond baby girl. That eventually had colic. Oh, the holy hell of colic. I now understand Shaken Baby Syndrome and so does K. We would trade her off every 10 - 15 minutes or so as she screamed her head off for hours every night. We would bounce her in her bouncy seat - on top of the dining room table - as we ate our dinner. Fortunately she outgrew it, because we didn't know how much longer we could take it. So if you ever tell me that you don't know if you'll make it through colic, you will. I promise, you will. It will be hell, but you will make it through. Today we have a beautiful, healthy, self confident eleven year old that brings joy, silliness, and her own personality to the mix we call our family.

Happy Birthday, CED. You are so very, very loved.

The t-shirt says 'You Wish You Could Kick Like A Girl' - love it! I'm telling you - watch out for girl soccer players. They are a-gres-sive!