7th Birthday!
My sweet Lil begins her 7th year today.
Of course, birthdays are always bittersweet to a mama. I want my children to grow up yet I can't help missing some of the times gone by.
Lillian entered this world a little earlier than expected (10 days) and seemed to grant us all with an immediate sense of her femininity. She has always been a delicate soul. So soft. So sweet. So girly! She was our first girl... and we noticed the difference between her and Asher IMMEDIATELY! She was (and is) so purely feminine.
This past year we dealt with Lillian having pneumonia three times in nine months. This was extremely troubling to me. Finally, on the third go-round I changed doctors and felt like I received some good advice as to the prevention and cure of her illness. Her reoccurring pneumonia only added to the sense of delicateness surrounding Lil.
She is currently taking ballet and is quite graceful. She is Eden's "teacher" and loves all things related to school. Of course, she is in love with her own teacher - Ms. Sweet. She is quite comfortable in the social arena and has a lot of friends. I occasionally remind her of the importance of being nice when she has the privilege of others looking up to her. Her teacher says she is the "perfect student." I love listening to her read and encourage her to read to Eden. She has really progressed in piano this year. This is her second year of taking lessons and she seems to really enjoy it. She regularly sits down at the piano to just play for fun!
Lil tends to be bossy to Eden... but I know it must be hard to resist because they are so close in age. I try to explain to her the qualities of a good leader but I don't know if any of my "lectures" are getting through to her! She has learned how to tease Asher and pushes his buttons on an almost hourly basis. This drives him crazy. (And she definitely knows it!)
With Lilli being an extremely emotional creature, D and I wonder what the teen years have in store for us! She usually cries at some point during the day. (We thought it was par for the course for girls but Eden doesn't cry as much - only if she gets hurt.) Crying tends to be how she "copes" with small crises in her life. So, as parents, we try to be empathetic balanced with sensibility during these crying episodes.
Lillian is growing so fast. She is turning into a young woman so quickly.
My prayer is for her to continue to grow in the grace of God. I hope she is learning to turn to him for constant reassurance and guidance through my example. I firmly believe I am to be "God" for my children... showing them who he is through my actions. I fail at this miserably every day but hope they are seeing bits and pieces of his love, forgiveness, tenderness, compassion, mercy, discipline, etc through the way I conduct my life.
Happy Birthday, dearest Lillian! I am so thankful you are my daughter.
