Happy Birthday Marlayna

On Sunday, Marlayna celebrated her 15th birthday.  She was born on Wednesday, April 17, 1996 - eleven days shy of our 1st anniversary.  I still remember the feelings of dismay I felt when she cried through her two first nights at home.  In desperation, I paged through my What to Expect When You're Expecting handbook and found the section on colic.  Could it be that my newborn darling was suffering from this dreaded ailment at only 2 days old?

Then my mom gave me some wonderful advice.  If baby is well-fed, burped and does not have a wet or dirty bum, let her cry.  Oh, what a wonderful release of anxiety and worry these words gave me!  In effect, she was telling me that mothering is imperfect, but so are babies.  At times, they'll cry - for no apparent reason.  And Marlayna did cry - probably more than my other children have at that age.  She also spit up a lot.  And I'm sure my lack of experience and bewilderment as a mother contributed to her frequent squalling.  She probably ingested too much gripe water.  It was our go-to solution whenever she howled without obvious explanation.  But to her credit, she was sleeping through the night by six weeks old.  And she made her for smelly hiccups and howls by having a sunny disposition.  Marlayna rolled over at just under 3 months old.  She could sit at almost 5 months old.  Her first tooth erupted at 6 months old and she could belly-crawl at precisely 6 months and 1 day old.  She was our sunshine.

Last Saturday, I went shopping with Marlayna.  To see her striding through the mall (she takes big steps and her ponytail swings when she walks) was an eye-opener.  She is growing up and new character traits are evident.  I appreciate her confidence.  I love her sense of humour.  I'm in awe of her social skills.  She is (mostly) considerate of others and is kind to her younger siblings.

Marlayna, I love you.  Happy birthday 15th birthday!

 8 years old

 loving newborn Malia

enjoying ice cream - Veere, the Netherlands