Quiet

Very distinctly, I recall worrying early on that she would never talk. She was such a quiet baby; there was always so much to take in, talking must have seemed unnecessary.

Five years later, she's a chatterbox who becomes a very sad little girl when without an audience. She loves to talk. It doesn't matter if she's talking to herself or someone else, there is always a conversation to be had. Being "shushed" is the ultimate punishment for Miss Ellie.

It's funny how babies come to us. Each of my three have their own story; each a bit different, but all the same in the ways that matter most. For Ellie, her quietness is a part of her story. She has been easy going from the very first moments. She was quiet in the womb, maybe that was contentedness, but I worried about her quiet nature from the very beginning.

She didn't make me sick for weeks and weeks. She didn't roll and move; I don't recall her fetal bouts of the hiccups. She just nestled in and grew, quietly. She missed what I thought to be her due date, I'm sure she just didn't want to impose... when the doctor insisted, she came into the world, strong and pink and perfect and not all that noisy.

She looked nothing like me, taking after her father, she quietly made our family complete. She and Gavin and Monte all look like they belong together. Benett and I are the odd ones with dark hair and eyes. She just belonged; assumed her position as the baby of the family.

That baby has grown so much and despite her love of talking, she's done it quietly. Not in the sense of volume... that's something she's mastered right along with her vocabulary. Her quietness is in her being. She has this wonderful willingness to try. She doesn't fret a whole lot... she's more interested in getting to it, putting her head down and doing. That's one of the things that I love most about her.

I've hardly noticed how she came to be five. It seems impossible. She'll start kindergarten next year and after that her first day of college. *sigh* Although that will come all too quickly, today we celebrated five. A hand full of years; no more trying to keep that pesky thumb down.

Her request was chocolate cake... and a picture with her two favorite boys. They were happy to quietly oblige.