It was brought to my attention that I do not blog about Lexi...it is true.I don't mean to leave her out, she just seems to fly under the radar. So this post is dedicated to my sweet sexy Lexi.
Lexi was born the day before my 22 birthday. If only for minutes...she made me a 21 year-old mother of two. Ha!
She was the easiest pregnancy and labor I had, by far! We lived in our condo in Orem while I was pregnant. My good friend, Aja ,would walk with me every morning. We walked for at least 3 miles, clear up until the last 2 weeks of pregnancy, when the inevitable 'bed rest' came. I gained the least amount of weight during that pregnancy...and while Cori was napping, I would turn on the baby monitor and swim in the pool.
I am a HUGE fan of summer, so emotionally and physically, I was a pretty happy camper. Mike was still two semesters away from graduating. I decided to needlepoint a patch for her baby blanket. (I look back now and have NO idea why I felt like doing that! I never had done it before, and have never done it since!)
After unexpectadly being induced, contractions started. I had the BEST epidural ever, I could still move my legs and everything. So 45 minutes after contractions, she was born at 12:49am, weighing 6lbs. 10oz. and 23 inches long! That's right...long and skinny! All the nurses kept telling me how beautiful she was. They said she looked like a 'c-section' baby, her head and face were amazingly beautiful!
She had a best-friend within 10 minutes of being born. Cori adored her! She came home, and we spent lots of time together, because Mike still had a semester left at BYU.
We picked up our walking and she started going to the park every morning from one week after she was born.
She was SUCH an easy baby. She was always happy, but in a way of just being content all the time. She was quiet and shy. She looked just like Carol, Mike's mom. With thick dark hair, fair skin, high cheek bones, and the fullest heart I've known. Her middle name is Carol, and then Mike's mom passed away when Lexi was only 5 months old.
Lexi fell in LOVE with my sister Nicole. Nic was pregnant with her first baby and we took a trip to California while our hubbies were our-of-town. Lexi wanted to be with Nic 24/7. The girls called her a-boo, because Nic played peek-a-boo with them all the time. Lexi would get so excited when Nic would hold her...so excited that she would pee on her. Seriously! More than once, Lexi would shake her hands up and down, get a huge smile, giggle, then pee right through her diaper. That's real love!
Lexi was shy, which was different for our family. She was soft-spoken and emotional. She is the kindest person I know. She is very thoughtful of others, and very sensitive. You know that song by Jewel..."be careful with me, I'm sensitive, and I'd like to stay that way"...this is Lexi's song.
She had two years of pre-school before Kindergarten. She loved her class and her teachers.
She is now in second grade. Lexi loves playing outside. She loves to swim, and play at the lake.
I was determined to teach her to ride her bike. At the end of the summer of 2007, I made her try it. She was not happy with me, but I thought it was good for her, the whole "she'll thank me later" type thing. She didn't like it, but I kept pushing, then it got too cold. At the beginning of the summer of 2008, I pushed it again. She was getting close, but she was miserable. I left her alone, and figured she wouldn't learn if she didn't want to. A week later, she taught herself to ride her bike. She had been going to the church parking lot to practice. When she came home to tell me...I thought she was probably just coasting and balancing. Nope! She was amazing, and took off to ride like a pro. She just needed me to leave her alone and stop pushing her. It had to be on her terms, without pressure, and without anyone watching.
She and Cori are best friends. They have their moments, but are very good to each other. She is very very good to her little sisters, and the first to volunteer to help them with anything. She is extremely selfless, and would give anything to help someone.
Lexi has recently started reading more often and really likes it. She loves stories and pretending. She is my deep thinker. I often find her talking to herself, making faces and body gestures as if she's debating or telling somebody where to go! I wonder if she has a theater production constantly going on in her head. She is dramatic, and loves role play or act parts. And although she's still a bit shy, she is rather confident. She'll raise her hand to answer questions, she will volunteer to do things in public, and stand in front of a crowd. She HATES to be laughed at though...it's probably the thing that will bring her to tears faster than anything else. Even if it not directly at her, or about her, she doesn't like to feel the center of laughter. She will take an audience...as long as they don't laugh!
She is smart, and a great listener! Lexi is extremely obedient and behaves so well...especially for a 7 year-old.
She asks me to come to her class and wants me around whenever possible. I was her room mother in Kindergarten and first grade, and she is always so proud of me. When I come to school, she hugs me and still kisses me on the mouth in front of her entire class.
She played basketball this year and did great! She works hard, and follows directions. She really does her best, and doesn't complain. In many ways, she is still the content baby she was seven years ago.
She is thankful and appreciative of everything! She thanks me for things I would never think of.
I love her so very much! I am excited to see her grow and become the person she wants to be. I'm look forward to watching her find her place in this crazy world. I have no doubt that she will do so much good and be an example to so many others. She teaches me to be different, not to push or expect conformity. She teaches me kindness. Like with riding her bike, she teaches me patience. She is what is called and 'old soul'.
There was a quote I heard a long time ago.
'Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded'
Lexi really teaches me that I need to gently 'unfold' her. She is delicate, even fragile sometimes. And while I am her mom, she had unfolded me in so many ways. I am so thankful for her, and appreciate her patience with me. She came to this earth much wiser than I may ever hope to be.
0 comments:
Post a Comment