Today we celebrate Ella's 4th birthday.
Ella is wild, she never sits still, she yells even when she's just talking about something as mundane as cereal. I could not imagine life without her. As she lay beside me this morning after her early morning wake up call, I listened to a rare moment of her peaceful rhythmic breathing and reflected on the day of her birth.
It was a normal pregnancy (although I did have gestational diabetes), a normal delivery, and I expected there to be no complications. She was whisked away to the nicu right after birth, however, and stayed there for 7 days because her lungs hadn't developed fully. From what I hear, this is fairly normal for babies of moms with gestational diabetes. It rocked our world though. We were a mess. We walked around in a sad stupor for that first week, and after she came home, she was never put down. I now fully accept responsibility for her all too independent personality. She's had it with the coddling and she wants to be on her own!
She paints walls with primer after we have just finished the last coat. She applies nail polish and makeup to her legs, arms, face and the carpet. She tries to put together meals for herself (much to the satisfaction of the dog). If she can't reach something, she tries to rig a ladder out of books, boxes, and toys. She likes to call strangers via cell phone and have conversations with them. We like to say we supervise her enough to help prevent the major destruction of our property, but there are never enough eyes around here, to be honest. I'm hoping that with age, her sense of indpendence will guide her as we try and train her up to have common sense as well.
Ella has been the best surprise/blessing/gift I have ever received. I thank God for her chaos everyday (well, almost everyday).
Happy Birthday, Ella!
