Three Years Ago

Exactly three years ago we were spending our final evening as just a couple. In about nine hours we'd be heading to the hospital to so I could finally give birth, after what felt like a 29 month pregnancy.

Three years ago I was six days past my due date, very large, very uncomfortable, and very excited to finally meet my girl. The girl I'd tried to picture in my head over the past nine months (truthfully, much longer than that). I figured she would have blonde hair, I knew she'd have blue eyes, but beyond that I didn't really know what to expect.

I imagined that I might end up with a stubborn child, since it's a pretty strong trait of mine. I also thought there would be a good chance my child would have a silly sense of humor, after her Daddy. I was correct on both counts.

What I was not expecting, however, was to create a person with the biggest and best personality I have ever met. From the moment she entered the world she was an active and eager participant, taking a few minutes to look around the hospital room and take it in before letting out any kind of cry. I knew she was healthy since the doctor and nurse were unalarmed, but all the babies I'd seen born in movies or TV shows always came out bellowing. I finally asked the nurse "shouldn't she be crying?" and it wasn't until the nurse wiped her eyes with a cloth that she let out a wail.

She makes friends wherever she goes and can charm anyone into a smile. If we go anywhere and she sees another kid, she immediately approaches them and refers to them as "my friend" regardless of how long they actually spend together. She's game for anything; as long as we're going somewhere or seeing people, she's happy.

Her extroverted, social personality is what threw me for a loop. It's very different from mine--I have to remind myself to approach new people, engage and be social. It isn't a natural part of my personality. Where I am tired out by large social settings, she is recharged.

I am thankful that her personality is so different. It constantly takes me out of my comfort zone in a good way and serves as a daily reminder that the world is a place to be explored and enjoyed. I have always been an optimist, but she gives me a reason to stay that way.

She loves books and will sit for ages making up her own stories or reciting parts of books she's memorized. She has an imagination that fascinates me and a sense of humor beyond her years. Sometimes she shocks me with her intelligence (as she gets older, I'll have to brush up on a lot of things just to keep up with her) and she seems to have inherited the musical gene that skipped me. She makes up songs for just about everything and asks us to do the same. She watches PBS Kids every morning over her breakfast of a waffle and banana, loves peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly), could eat yogurt with every meal, and will never ever turn down ice cream or chocolate chip cookies.

She doesn't just walk anywhere--she skips, gallops, dances or runs. She loves swings, slides, climbing, and copying Daddy's yoga moves. She shows an athletic side that, sadly, also mostly skipped over me. She wants to wear a baseball mitt as much as a princess gown and is almost never without nail and toenail polish. She loves to run around "with my piggies out" (barefoot) and loves Buzz Lightyear almost as much as Cinderella.

Her favorite color is every color--her answer will change depending on the direction of the wind. She loves anything sparkly and has never seen a cat she didn't like. She gets excited to ride her bike every day and cannot wait to go to school. She wants to ride a school bus, drive a car, learn to sew and marry her Daddy.

She dislikes loud motorcycles, thunderstorms, feeling even a little bit embarrassed, slimy things, rain,  or going to bed on time.

She is fiercely independent, a master negotiator (come to our house at bedtime to see what this girl comes up with to delay the process), impatient, and very stubborn. If she wants alone time she'll ask for it and don't dare interrupt her. She wants to be a big girl most of the time, unless it's inconvenient--then she sorely misses being a baby. She has an irresistible charm that I'm not sure she's fully aware of, but it scores her a shocking amount of free stuff. Try going to the farmer's market at Crocker Park with her some Saturday and you'll see what I mean; she just might come home with a chocolate croissant, lip balm, and a flower, all from different vendors and all for free.

Three years ago I did not yet know any of this. I could not have imagined the things to come, and so many things in such a short amount of time. This girl is my very, very best and I will do everything in my power to make sure that as she grows up the world does not dull her sparkle.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful Charlotte.

~Stacy