Happy Birthday Lil' Bit!

It was Lil' Bit's 1st birthday yesterday...and we are having a party on Saturday. It is crab themed for our little Cancerian and I am up to my elbows in googly eyes and coconut cupcakes. I spent yesterday finishing up a journal that I began ten days before she was born. It is my plan to give it to her on her 18th birthday. I had something else I was going to write about today, but I thought in honor of Lil' Bit I would share with you some choice excerpts from the journal. Enjoy!

6/14/08
I woke up to what seemed to be a contraction. I have never had one before, but lower back pain is supposed to be a part of it...and I have never woken up with pain like that before. So I went to the bathroom thinking maybe indigestion? You, little one were moving around in there. According to your clairvoyant great-great aunt, you are to be born tomorrow, June 15. She has prophesied the birth date of all your cousins, so I think we can assume that this is the real deal.

6/20/08
My little girl, you have bucked the prophecy. Sunday came and went. The strawberry moon came and went. The summer solstice is tomorrow. God, I sound like a granola crunching new ager. Right now I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop writing, which is something I love to do and hope one day journaling over a cup of coffee is something we will do together. It is strange how little I have been journaling the past 9 months. My brain has been in a fog of hormones, not raging fierce hormones, but thick milky hormones that have had a humbling effect on my intellect.

6/25/08
Happy Birthday! Born 11:41 am. 8 lbs 10 oz 23 hours and 45 minutes of child birth Au Natural. "Wow that's a big baby!" Exclaimed the midwife upon your entry into the world.

7/1/08
Yesterday we gave her a bath for the first time. Warm water with oatmeal and herbs. She hated every moment of it, writhing about as if she were being water boarded. Then after we bathed her and she had calmed down, I had the brilliant idea to trim her nails. I don't trim my own nails, so Chef did it. I went to clean her bathtub then I heard a shriek of pain. Chef, who is fearless when it comes to bodily fluids, called out to me "Honey! I can't do this!" He had clipped the tip of her finger. I walked in and Lil' Bit was screaming and a yellow shit stain was leaking out from the towel onto Chef's shirt. She had shit herself. It was like some sick GITMO operation. We decided we would never trim them again. Mama would bite them for her just like her mama did when she was a baby.

7/25/08
Today is her one month birthday. Yesterday Chef got a tattoo of a family tree on his back. It was her first trip to a tattoo parlor. I had to breast feed her in the parking lot, shared with a porn shop. A man dressed somewhat like my father, yellow polo shirt untucked over khaki shorts and topsiders walked in. I pulled my baby a little closer and tried not to think about some pervert getting off on my lactation.

8/2/08
It is a funny thing to have someone impatient with your nipples.

2/24/09
Just returned from NYC today. She got her first tooth while we were there. We were having a little dinner party at Momofuku Bassam Grill and I heard a little ding on the glass of water I was sharing with her. First tooth in the Big Apple. She is so gritty.

4/30/09
I was waiting for someone to come out of Super Walmart today and witnessed a woman beaten by a man in the parking lot. I had the baby with me and I just kept my cool as to not alarm her. I called the police, and the operator acted as if this sort of thing happens all the time. Three years ago I would have started blaring on my horn and grabbed my shovel and tried to help the lady...but with the baby my instincts were clear, sharp and alert...not rash at all. The worst part about it was that there was a child there, and another adult watching not doing anything to stop it.

6/25/08
Happy Birthday Lil' Bit! I can't believe you are already one! There is a lot of advice I can give you as a 28 year old woman now that you are 18...but this is the most important. Don't be afraid to follow your passion in life. It may be the road less traveled, but if you do what you love then you will be the best at it. Oh, and try to travel as much as you can before you hit 30...study abroad, road trip, sail...the world is one huge adventure just waiting for you to run with it.

Have a great weekend everyone...and check back on Monday for another taste of EcoCulinaire!