The Biggest Surprise

I would have to say our little Lilah is probably our biggest surprise so far! And by surprise, I don't mean pregnancy surprise!

While I had a fairly normal pregnancy with Mairead (pre-term labor, low fluid, delivery at 37 weeks), my pregnancy with Lilah was nowhere close to being normal. Everything was textbook perfect until 19 weeks when I had my level II ultrasound. Our little girl was perfect, but my cervix was not. We left the ultrasound very scared not knowing what was going to happen. I never thought I'd hear the words "emergent cerclage" spoken to me. From that point on, I worried....and worried......and worried some more. Would our little girl be born healthy? Full-term? Pre-term? What would happen?

Thankfully, she was born at 36w5d and healthy! She was the baby everyone dreamed of. She was so content, sweet, quiet and loved sleep. I often wondered if our little Lilah was okay. She was just so different than her big sister. Kevin and I used to wonder if she would be our smart, quiet one....dare I say it...the boring one. As an infant, she was just so complacent. Was just happy being with you. It took a lot for her to laugh. She was happy. She was easy. She was also very sensitive, too. If you sneezed too loud, she would cry!

Then...it happened. She started taking steps at 9 months old. She went from doing nothing to walking in a matter of two months. Crazy. Not only did she walk early, her personality started to take off like a rocket ship into space. We used to look at her in amazement. Who is this child? Where did this personality come from? By the time she was 16 months, she was climbing everywhere and everything. She never walked. Just ran. Everywhere. She had one speed. Fast.

Once Lilah's personality took off, it never stopped. She would do things that would make us laugh, and if we didn't laugh, she'd laugh at herself. While she couldn't communicate very well, she sure knew how to cause sparks, light up a room and make you smile. We'd shake our heads...We never imagined our quiet, little Lilah would be so....funny! animated! personable! and still so sensitive!

Lilah is our spirited child. She runs around in leotards, ballet slippers, beach cover-ups all day. Wears them to bed. She loves to dress up and walk around in heels. She has had a pink necklace on for almost two weeks now.

One thing that has not changed is her love for sleep. Lilah is the one child we can count on for solid sleep. I probably can count on one hand the amount of times she's been a problem in the middle of the night. This kid can sleep! Lilah is also still so sweet. She loves to snuggle, give hugs and kisses. She is never stingy! I love it!

I can't think of a day where Lilah doesn't make us laugh. Each day, it is always something new with her. Her personality never ceases to amaze us. We turn around and just shake our heads. The photos below were taken yesterday. We were upstairs getting dressed. I turned around, and literally laughed so hard, I cried! Lilah strikes again! Her personality is so contagious! She definitely lights up our world with laughter and joy!

I should have known by the trouble she caused during my pregnancy that she would be the spirited one!