Birthday Blog- The Sleeping Giant

 Yep, 13 years ago today I was bigger than a house, waddled into the front entrance of the hospital at 6:00a.m.with my pants dripping wet from amniotic fluid, and was sent to...Ultrasound!
Once it was straightened out that I no longer needed the non-stress test that had been scheduled because she was a week overdue, I got my wheelchair ride to labor and delivery.
15 hours later she finally popped out, nearly knocking the pregnant obstetrician off of her stool and eliciting comments like, "Oh, what a big baby!" from the nurses (she was 10lbs 3.4oz and 21 inches or so).  It was one week past her due date and about a month since Daddy graduated from college and enjoyed a two week tour of England.

Since the delivery room, she has been letting everyone know what her preferences are.  Before we even brought her home from the NH hospital, I was bouncing her around the room, her head tucked into my right elbow, at a certain rhythm.  For months, everyone who held her would find themselves jouncing just that way within minutes.  It was good for the thighs, at least.

Whoever started the campaign to "Never Shake a Baby" never met this one!

Another thing she wanted early on was a plug.  I had an experienced maternity nurse tell me, "I never tell a nursing mother to give her baby a pacifier, but your baby really needs one!"  I thought plugs were disgusting so I ignored this sage advice until two months later, when we were on our way to Illinois from New Hampshire in a moving van, and she would not ride quietly.  You can't nurse in a moving truck!  And you can't get all the way to Illinois with a baby crying the entire time!  So I dug into the bottom of my big, green bag, found a tiny pink-and-white plug, and popped it in.  Mom, Dad and baby all breathed a sigh of relief!!

Another thing she demanded right from the start was to be upright.  She hated, hated, hated the infant car seat, the crib, a blanket on the floor, and just about any other position.
She slept well twice in her first 10months.  The first time was at my sister's wedding, where I was a bridesmaid.  The second was on the 4th of July, when we had fireworks right outside our apartment window (the best in New Hampshire!)  My theory is that she was hiding from all the loud noises associated with both events, so the sleep was some kind of defense mechanism.  If I had realized this at the time, my apartment would have gotten pretty noisy!

She attended graduate school before preschool, being brought along to as many of my classes as I could manage while I pursued my Master's Degree.   She was perfectly happy with this and many students enjoyed her as a mascot.  It even worked for me to bring a pack-n-play to class and set it up in the back of the room.  She pulled herself upright at about 7 months and stayed there so long we thought she would skip crawling altogether, but Daddy finally lured her into it with a Cheerio one night when she was 9 months old.  Walking came at almost exactly a year.  At 18 months old, graduate school was over and she became a big sister. 

We thought they made a pretty good matched set.







We moved back to NY right after that, and she discovered chocolate.

She became a big sister again in 2003...












And again in 2007.

Other milestones include her Baptism in 2005.  She had been dedicated at our church in Illinois at about 10 months of age, when her grandparents were visiting.  When she asked to be baptized at age 7, we didn't hold her back.  Tomorrow, if you are reading this on her birthday, she will be confirmed at the same church where she was baptized. I am happy that she is taking this opportunity to re-affirm her faith, but I also believe that the Christian life usually calls for dozens of these re-affirmations, not all of which will be marked by a ceremony.  If at some point she chooses a full-grown adult baptism, we'd be pleased with that. 

Where did the Title "Fearsome Sleeping Giant" come from?  Oddly enough, considering all her reluctance to sleep at the beginning of her life, she likes it well enough now!  We had her tonsils taken out in the 1st grade, which reduced her apnea and helped her to sleep better.  She's still a very restless sleeper though, talking, flailing and once even whistling in her sleep.  It took a great deal of training (read: misery) to help her learn to fall asleep alone and stay in her room at night.  So when sleep is hard-won, the sleeper doesn't love to get up in the morning.  And Giant?  Well, our big baby stayed big.  She's just over 5'7" and I don't think she has stopped growing yet, and that's taller than I am.  But the name started with a friend of her brother's came over (he was 5), and had a hard time distinguishing which sister he was talking about. He apparently settled on baby sister, big sister, and giant sister.  We discovered this when I threw away a broken shoe of hers.  He saw it in the trash and reported, in a concerned voice "...your giant sister's shoe is in the trash!"

More recently, her hobbies have included reading, biking, hiding from my camera, and the occasional jog.  She takes HapKiDo, and pays for the lessons herself.  To do this, she bakes cookies...a lot of them...and very good ones, too.  She mows lawns and will do other odd jobs.  She babysits The Princess on occasion, and is looking forward to a busy summer of rec programs.  In 2009, she visited Central Asia with her Dad, and eagerly looks forward to going back to stay.

The news that I am now the mother of a teenager doesn't bother me too much.  After all, I saw it coming.  I've known since she was that strong-willed baby that this wasn't going to be easy, but when is it ever?  With much patience, prayer, and wisdom, I know I will have to choose my battles.  That same stubbornness that made everyone bounce her just *that* way when she was a newborn baby will probably serve her well on many occasions. She has her mother and Nana's sensible, practical view of life that tends to keep one out of trouble, and so far she believes me that boys and make-up are for much, much later.  Now, if I can convince the boys..

Some things to look forward to in 2011:  joining Facebook, homeschool co-op, and finally losing those stubborn baby teeth, whether by nature or dentist.  We're going to try an on-line co-op this year in addition to the local Friday co-op.  She has really enjoyed staying in place long enough this year to make some friends at church, so I will add deeper friendships to the list of things to look forward to.  And of course a closer walk with God, because it's always a good time for that. What else?  Probably some stuff we can't plan for.  Can't wait to see what's in store.  No, really.