Lila is TWO!

I can’t believe how fast time went by…strike that! I meant to say “how fast time IS GOING by”. Lila is growing up too fast and each day we get to see a little bit more of her strong personality. I mean, this girl knows what she wants. Period. This is especially hard for me, since I’m a control freak... (hey, at least I’m honest about it.) Lucky for me, it seems like Lila is shaping up to be one, too. Adolescence will be a blast! (Can you sense the sarcasm in this last statement?) She is such a funny girl. We laugh nonstop when we’re together! The other day, American Idol was on and she danced to every single performance. And when the judges made their comments, she would bow down (putting one hand in front of her and one in her back) and say “thank you, thank you, thank you”, even as the judges were saying horrible things to the contestants! We actually got it on video. I just have to learn how to upload it here. She loves to sing.  I don't care how off-key she may sound, it's still the most beautiful little voice I've ever heard.  She's all around a very silly girl, full of surprises.  Lila acts like such a grown up sometimes but most times I still see her as a little baby and that's probably because she's so attached to her mommy and her daddy.  Anyone that knows her, knows how shy she is.  I get a lot of ---I will say "advice"--- about what we should try to make sure Lila becomes more outgoing and how she can develop better social skills.  I find myself getting a little stressed out sometimes because not everyone has a chance to see how cute and funny Lila is, but deep down I have to say I feel incredibly blessed that she's not the much "adventurous" and "overly-extrovert" type because I know that has its own difficulties (much like having a child who has an introvert personality).  Lila takes a little time to warm up to people...so what?  I read that introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population. So, there!

Anyway, we had a great day! Literally, we did pretty much nothing. JR went to work as usual. The only difference was that he went a little later than normal so we had a great family moment in the morning while we watched Lila open her birthday presents and we prayed with her, to thank God for yet another wonderful year, where we were so blessed with an abundance of health, joy and just plain old fun! Later in the day, Lila’s cousins came over, and her aunts, grandma and her nana too. We sang happy birthday about 30 times that day (which ALWAYS included a candle on top of a mini cupcake) and many times in the 3 days following her birthday. ~:-)  Even today she woke up and was playing inside her crib, as usual,  then I heard and watched her through the monitor while she sang "Happy Birthday" in Portuguese and even blew out an imaginary candle!

I can’t help but to relive that entire day, April 6, 2008, and the days leading up to it. I wasn’t miserable for being 6 days past my due date but I was anxious to meet this little girl I had been waiting so long for. I had longed for the minute I would get to hold her, and just touch one of God’s most amazing miracles...to know He molded her with His own hands and allowed me to be a part of it...it’s surreal.

Labor was a blast (no sarcasm here). I had to be induced because I had a very low level of amniotic fluid. Labor lasted about eight and a half hours and Lila came after less than an hour of pushing. When she came out, she wasn’t crying. The nurse handed her to me, and Lila turned blue as I watched her, because she wasn’t breathing. They noticed it too, and took her from me. At that moment they called in “NICU for resuscitation” and helped Lila breath. She didn’t breath for about 2 minutes. Her heart rate went down but it didn’t stop and, after the NICU doctors helped her, she didn’t need a breathing tube inserted down her throat. She did, however, stay in the oxygen tent for a day, in the oxygen tube for another day and was finally released to me from NICU on the third day. She was the calmest, sweetest baby...in my eyes she still is. I remember when the doctors took Lila back from my arms when she wasn’t breathing I cried out so many times “God, breath on her Your breath of life” and He truly did. Her lungs are filled with the breath of the God almighty. How can I not praise Him every time I look at Lila?

And so I end this post with a verse from a song I love. I used to sing this part of the song over and over again while pregnant with Lila.

“oh, I sigh at Your wonders…oh Lord I labor for breath at Your creation. Your majesty has my attention and Your sovereignty has my devotion.” From Rita Springer’s You Still Have My Heart