Happy Birthday Avery

In the name of being who I get to be: Avery the birthday girl's momma, I must take a moment to reflect on where I was last year at this time: strapped to a bed with a heart monitor on, getting one last ultrasound to make sure the baby was still breech, being wheeled into the O.R. where my heart rate climbed because something really big was about to happen to me. My husband came in with scrubs on, stood next to me and held my hand, and was oohing and aahing at the view he had of what was going on below my waist. Then suddenly they were handing me this new little person, this little girl with swollen lips and crinkled eyes who I instantly loved and who had been there in my belly all that time. I hardly realized it until just then.

Jump forward to one year later when my scar has fallen below the place it was before and I am the mom of a one year old, a very busy, beautiful, smart, melodic, angelic, funny one year old. When we had her, I was so apprehensive about what we would get the second time around, having had a pretty "easy" baby in Jooge. I was shocked to discover that we'd again gotten lucky. Avery's temperment made her more similar to her sister than different from her. Going from one kids to two was smooth due to the person that Avery was. Our family felt complete.

At a year, Avery is a delight. She loves baths, she loves music, she loves most foods, she LOVES her sister. She loves testing out everything in her mouth to see just how it tastes. She HATES being changed and dressed. She's harder to read to, less likely to sit still. She likes to feel the textures of things, stroking the fuzzy bearded webbing that hangs down from the underside of our wingback chair. She says "Mamma" in her crib when she wakes up in the morning, repeats it again and again gently, calling for me. Avery's laugh reveals her sense of humor and she's quick to raise her hands in a lively game of peek a boo. I love that her car seat is facing forward now so that I can look back and see her face looking out at her new perspective on the world.

As the second born, Avery gets ignored sometimes because someone else is dominating the landscape. Avery's birthday gifts have been snatched by Jooge, who now sleeps with them. Luckily, Avery's too young to care. Knowing her personality, she might NOT care. Well, come to think of it, she is pretty p.o.ed everytime her sister jerks something out of her hands. Having been an oldest myself, I don't know how it feels to be the youngest. Judging by that example, it must suck to have someone older than you who feels entitled to your things. At the same time, I know that it comes with a little less pressure and someone else to show you the ropes. It comes with a whole slew of hand-me-downs (though I've gotten Avery plenty of her own duds) and a RELAXED set of parents who aren't as worried because they've already done this once.

Thank you for coming into our lives Avery Reid. I feel very lucky to be your mom!