I’ve been thinking that if a new reader joined us, he/she
would probably be very confused that my oldest child is called BabyGirl. A new
reader would likely expect “BabyGirl” to refer to the younger child, not the
older. And now, even my younger child isn’t a baby anymore, so her older
sibling most certainly can’t be a baby.
Listening to her talk also confirms that she is a BabyGirl
no longer. She says things like, “Personally, I prefer to play outside today.”
And, “The thing is Mama, that I really don’t like zucchini.” Yesterday at
church she told the nursery worker, “I’m concerned that the boo-boo on my
finger is a splinter.”
She can drag a chair over to the kitchen counter, climb on
top of the cabinets and help herself to the stash of remaining candy canes. She
can put her coat, snow boots, and mittens on all by herself. She can pretty
accurately diagnose the source of Bright Eyes’ distress when she starts crying:
“She’s probably hungry, Mama. You should give her a snack.” Or today, “I think
her teeth are bothering her. Do you want me to get some ibu’s for her?”
Ever since she hit her half-birthday and the aliens returned
her soul, she has been such a joy! She says the funniest things. She is an
amazing helper. When something brings her joy, she becomes really huggy.
Therefore, she shall now be known to us as Sunny.
At first I was hesitant to call her that. The name Sunny
might give off the impression that she is always happy. And as a girl whose
emotions are often bigger than she is, that is not the case. She has her fair
share of storm clouds. If you think about it though, even the sun itself isn’t
always sunny. It goes down at night. It usually hides when it rains. It’s gone
for months at a time during the winter.
When it comes to the sun, some days are sunnier than others,
and it’s the same way with the BabyGirl. Currently, her rainy season is over
for a while and now her days are full of light. The Professor and I are soaking
up all these warm rays like we’re on a Caribbean cruise.
On Christmas Day, Sunny and I went for a walk with my dad.
Sunny wore her brand new pink ballet princess dress, which she LOVED. We had a
blast walking around the picturesque beach town, exploring all kinds of new
things. It was a wonderful experience. She was free to simply enjoy life. She was the quintessential child who takes in
everything around her with delight. We walked by a sidewalk café and she made
my dad play pretend restaurant. She served him make-believe food with a
make-believe fork. But the pretend café only had one fork that day, and there
were two of them eating, so in the end she had to take back his fork and he had
to eat with his hands.
When we moved on from the café, a woman walking a small dog passed
us on the sidewalk. Sunny hesitated, because you never know if a new dog is
friendly or not. The woman smiled and said, “This is Sparky, and he loves kids.
Especially princesses.”
It was funny because I had forgotten that Sunny was wearing
her ballet princess dress. But that’s how it goes when you are a little girl.
If you have a dress that you love, you wear it seven days a week. If you like
your new My Little Pony, you take it with you everywhere. If you have a
favorite book, you read it every single night.
The things that she loves, she goes at with gusto. The
people that she loves are forever in her heart. She definitely brings light and
warmth to our family. She is our little sunshine!
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