Better Late Than Never: Sassy Sixteen

February 15, 2010

Sassy Sixteen

Where has the time gone? It's impossible that you are sixteen today! It seems like I blinked and you grew from two to seven, blink again to eleven and now out of nowhere you are sixteen. My heart can't take it - I'm in total denial.

You were the absolute best baby save for a couple early days when your tummy was so upset you cried violently for hours. We thought you had colic and I thought I'd made a horrible mistake - I wasn't motherhood material. Thank goodness for soy formula. You were the easiest kid - I totally lucked out - happy and sweet 99.9% of the time. Seriously. You loved your Sami cat - she slept wrapped around your head and you'd drag her all over the house. When you started eating solid food, for some reason you kept trying to stick it in your ears. Very frustrating, not to mention very messy! You didn't start walking until 15 months - in no hurry to get to the next stage. You were bald until age two and instead of terrible twos you had moody threes. Every now and then you'd wake up on the wrong side of the bed and be very quiet with a sourpuss face for most of the day.

Speaking of waking up, it was not your forte until your little brother arrived. I used to start waking you up at least a half hour before we had to be out the door. I'd begin with a lilting "rise and shine". A few minutes later I'd turn on some music. A little more time and the lights came on. If you weren't up after that, you'd get one more cheery, "good morning sunshine" before I had to pull the covers back and drag you out.

At age two you had a terrible accident. In a split second you moved a gate, opened the sliding glass door and fell approximately 11 feet from our second story onto the concrete patio below. I remember screaming. And then one neighbor ran to call 911 and another neighbor jumped over their fence to hold you down. You actually tried to get up. We went to Children's Hospital and it was the worst few hours of my life. I couldn't imagine a good outcome. By the grace of God, you had two hairline skull fractures, a helluva swollen/black eye and some nasty scrapes. You could fit a golf ball under your eyelid it was so swollen. Poor baby. You were back to "normal" within a week, like nothing had ever happened. We had your hearing, vision and everything else checked - no residual effects. It was a miracle. You've had several accidents since - all relatively minor and we kind of expect them at this point. You're such a klutz.

You were very excited to become a big sister; however, you were really hoping for a girl. Until just a couple of years ago you were very motherly towards Chunky. Now you two fight like ... siblings. He knows how to push your buttons like no other.

You can be cautious one minute and fearless the next. After first grade, you insisted on attending a week-long summer camp 2.5 hours north even though you didn't know a single soul. You did this for three years and then decided it wasn't for you because you didn't know anyone. You had lots of friends - you liked everyone, but no one in particular for several years and then one day you and AB were inseparable. Then it was Miguel. Now it's Sprinkle. You are a wonderful friend, even when your friends aren't wonderful to you.

You love fashion, makeup, music and volleyball. For awhile you were into Jennifer Garner. I think you've watched every episode of Alias ten times. You've been into Gwen Stefani for some time now and of course the ever present Twilight saga. This is your room -

Though we have disagreements once in awhile, you've never had a big teen blow-out or said that you hated me (though I'm sure you think it). Now that I've typed this, it will probably happen.

I think you will work with children in some capacity - you have a tremendous amount of empathy without letting the feelings consume you. I am thinking a teacher or OT/PT. You're a good student, organized (ahem, most of the time though judging by the photos above you should clean your room!), hard worker and an absolute joy (most of the time :)

We love you - happy sweet 16!