Birthdays

Well, today we began celebrating Maggie's 5th birthday.  I can't believe she turns 5 on Monday. It seems like just yesterday she was a crazy little baby who clung to me, refused to nap in her crib and ate only sugared formula and crackers.  Now she's a kindergartner, a soccer player and a pop culture maven.  Of course, I still can't get her to eat, but that's another blog.

It really is remarkable how far she's come and how much she is the same baby we met in China nearly four years ago.  I remember her as a fierce baby.  Man, she fought us with all her might at first.  Now, when charges down the soccer field with the ball at her feet, her head bent in determination, I see that fierceness in her and I know exactly where it comes from.  

In the first few days with us she wouldn't walk, but I was pretty sure she could and was just being stubborn.  Sure enough, by the end of the first week in China she was running everywhere.  She needed to do it in her own time.  Now, I see that stubborn will when she chooses not to talk in situation when it would be very beneficial if she did.  And all I can do shake my head and explain to the other adult she has frustrated, that she can be stubborn about talking.  (Don't tell Maggie this, but I find it sort of amusing.)  

I also remember how intense Maggie was as a baby.  No child could sustain a screaming session like Maggie.  She outwitted the Ferber method by simply crying through the night and falling asleep in my arms at 6am.  I was exhausted by that point, and it was the last time I tried any documented method on her.  But you know, now I see that intensity when she's coloring.  She focuses so hard, that she tunes out everything but her art.  

The funny thing is when I write about her as a baby, the words fierce, intense and stubborn do not tell the whole story.  Because the word that best describes Maggie is happy.  She is truly a joyful spirit on this planet.  And when I think back to her babyhood, I see that child too.  There were moments when she'd let down her guard early on with us, when we'd catch her playing with the mirror or pounding a bottle top.  In those moments, we'd see her smile, and I'd hope I could know that baby too.   Now when she giggles with her sister or smiles back at me from her seat in class, I see that happy baby too.  

Mostly, the happy baby is who lives with us these days.  Yes, she'll always be fierce, stubborn and intense, but she's also mostly joyful and we're so very glad she's ours.   Happy 5th Birthday, Maggie!