Thirteen years ago

Thirteen years ago at this exact time, I was in labor.

I went to the hospital at 7 a.m. to be induced since I was already dilated 5 cm and had been for over a week. This child was 2 weeks overdue and I swear that she was gripping my hipbones trying to stay where she was. Thus, the induction.

By 10:30 a.m. it was all over and we were the proud and surprised parents of a screaming little girl. We truly expected a boy, and didn't even have a girl's name picked out.

We were very glad that she was screaming and loud, because Andy was a quiet baby and then he had some trouble with breathing. A screaming baby meant we wouldn't have that problem this time.

Only problem was she didn't stop screaming for many many months...make that years. Cause she still has a tendency to be rather loud...

Right away, we knew we had a stubborn child, a loving child, and one who needed lots of touching. She was the child who would wake up the minute you laid her down. She was the baby who slept best curled up on her Daddy's chest, or on Mom's. She's the child who, once she learned to walk, would be found in bed with her big brother every single morning. She's the child, who last night, came upstairs to get her dog, just so she'd have someone in bed with her.

She's always been a little thing, a skinny thing. She still is, but she's moved from that girl state to that of a young lady. Her interests are waffling...one minute, she wants a doll, or a stuffed animal; the next, she's wanting makeup and dressy dresses and bras and such.

At Christmas, I could rest my chin on top of her head. Today, I can't.

She's 13 today. The baby is long gone, the little girl is gone. Today she's one step closer to becoming a woman. I see glimpses of that woman, and I think I'm going to like her.

If she survives long enough to become that woman...

Happy Birthday Kat.