One of the things I love the most about having three kids of the same gender is that their differences in personality really shine forth.
Little Mae turned nine months old yesterday. I wish I could proclaim that with joy and excitement and enthusiasm, and indeed I do feel those emotions, but I also proclaim it with more than a little touch of sadness. My baby is growing up. Right in front of my face. Way more quickly than I am prepared for.
But the thing is, the older she gets, the more of her personality shines forth, and the more and more I fall in love with those chubby little cheeks and that smile that lights up my mornings and brings peace to my evenings.
I’ve mentioned before that I have songs for each of my girls. Before Mae was born, I decided hers would be “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” It sounded like such a great song to lull a baby to sleep.
But then two things happened after she was born:
1. I realized that I sound really really bad singing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” So bad in fact that my ears almost start to bleed.
2. I realized that when I look at Mae, I don’t think troubled waters. I think sunshine.
And I didn’t want “You are My Sunshine” to be the song for any of my girls. It’s so cheesy and I don’t like the melody, and there are no lyrics in there that make my heart soar. But the words, “you are my sunshine,” speak to my heart whenever I see her.
She has grown so much in just the last couple of weeks. Whereas ten days ago, she wasn’t really crawling at all, now she is very adept at getting whatever it is that she wants. Unfortunately, that is usually to the crayons.
And while she is the world’s least ticklish baby (seriously, I can’t find one ticklish inch on her body,) she’s also the most giggly.
We taught her this week to “raise the roof” to which she will do the hand motions and then break out into uncontrollable laughter. Magoo brought bubbles home from school on Thursday and was blowing them in the living room. All of a sudden, I hear squeals of delight coming from the floor. Apparently Mae thought this was the funniest thing she had ever seen and would laugh hysterically whenever one popped against her hand. She’s loving learning how to high five me, and she gives the sweetest little side armed wave to people as they come and speak with us.
There’s that saying that says that no baby is ever cute enough that its mom doesn’t want it to take a nap. Surprisingly, there are times I’ll keep her up just a little longer to soak in a little more of her joy. I’ll rock her for sometimes half an hour after she falls asleep just to feel the peace of her little body rocking in time with mine.
After two girls, I think I thought I had seen it all. What more could a third teach me about girlhood? And what little Mae taught me, along with her sisters, is that there are just as many ways to live in this world as there are people living in it. I am just grateful that I get to share my world with these little three.
And that’s it. Can’t say this was the most well written post and it surely isn’t ground breaking. But I love my girls. Plain and simple. And there’s nothing more honest than I can say than that.
Happy nine months little girl. Thank you for choosing me as your mommy!