Her First Steps

Being as it's a special day- Nadia's birthday- I was just thinking of all my wonderful times with her and the joys of raising such a wonderful child. There are so many things about her that I love.

When Violet was here, I was nervous about how bold she was around big animals. She chased the poor deer in the Petting Zoo at the County fair. As soon as Nadia learned to walk, she was off and running too. Watching Violet's bouncing curls brought back so many memories of another similiar bouncy head I had trouble keeping up with.

When she was 5, we were visiting a family near Honfleur in France. They had a small farm and a few horses. I can remember standing in their fields and admiring the sights when I looked back and I saw Nadia galloping away on a pony. My heart stopped. She'd never riden a pony before. One of our friend's kids had put her on their pony and she just took off galloping. I knew she loved horses but....

A few years earlier, I had taken the kids to the horse races in Deauville. We lived in that area of France for 3 years. It was so to see the sulkies and at that time you could get real close to the horses as they passed by on their way to the track. I was keeping an especially close eye on them, I thought, and then Nadia disappeared. She was only knee high to these trotters so I was frantic. I pushed my buggy with baby Maya around, asking everyone if they had see a small girl. Then I heard this announcement about a small girl that was up with the Announcer. I rushed up there and she was happily eating an ice cream, sitting in the best seat of the house and enjoying a great view of all the horses. She was entertaining everyone with her laughter and enthusiasm, totally engrossed in the race.

Going back further still, she became a celebrity in a small way, at about 4 months. A magazine reporterwas doing an article on Parent/child relationships and saw me standing on a market square in Stockholm. I had Nadia strapped to me in a Japanese front carrier and we were just enjoying the sun and warmth, smiling at each other. She took photos of us and we were featured in her article as a good illustration. I used that same red carrier for all 7 of my kids by the way. Those were the days before Baby Bjorn.

She always loved dancing and music. It seemed like she would be twirling away and in her own little world. We listened to classical music a lot back then. One problem. She kept bumping into everything. She just never seemed to look where she was going.

She just always seemed to want to see everything and do everything at the same time.

Nadia was a tremendous help as an older sister. She may look at this differently however. How different Teresa's life is. However, I wouldn't trade all those times for anything. I could go on and on. Those days were so full with fun, experiences and overflowing with joy. Thanks Nadia, for just being you. Hmmmm....maybe I will add a PS to this...a few books perhaps!

Anyway, Happy Birthday Nadia. May this day be special and the best one yet!
Love,
Mom