Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go

If Sulienne is celebrating her 24th birthday today, and I know she is since it is January 16, 2008, then I am feeling really old. I was just a braces-wearing lass when Suli was born and know, well, at least the effects of the orthodontics have lasted these many years. In honour of Sulienne’s birthday, I’m sharing some random memories (random memories are all I have, to be honest).

* When Karin was pregnant with Sulienne, I sang “Hush, Little Baby” to her belly. When Sulienne was born, Karin asked for the lyrics because she couldn’t remember all of the words. These days, you can find lullaby lyrics on the Web and libraries hold parent and tot classes to teach them.

* Sulienne had the greatest clothes when she was little, I remember a pink sweatsuit in particular and some Hanna Anderssen outfits. Too bad they didn’t survive until Reid was born but, really, everyone had given up on me having a baby before Reid was born.
* When Sulienne was in kindergarten or grade 1, she performed the opening speech at the pageant. She spoke clearly and slowly, remembering all of her words and not sucking on the hem of her dress. The only flaw in her debut performance was that she had to open her arms wide at the end and that took the microphone far from her mouth. Sulienne, the consummate professional, never let on that anything untoward had happened.
* There was this one time, when Karin was doing Sulienne’s hair that Sulienne made an important discovery that led to her interest in biology … but I won’t go into that except to say that I admire Sulienne for her dedication to difficult subjects in university and the enthusiasm she has for what she is studying. Remember *I* have arts degrees.
* Sulienne works hard at tough jobs in order to eat and live and go to university, all at the same time. It is important to acknowledge the effort this requires.
* Sulienne is a good chooser of gifts. She got Reid two hoodie towels as a baby present, one that looks like a frog and one the looks like a bunny for Reid to wear after swimming. Reid has never fussed at being bundled in them as has occasionally happened with regular towels and they keep Reid toasty warm while I dry myself off. We have used these towels for years and continue to receive compliments on them.
* Sulienne came through for me when I needed a babysitter at fairly short notice – one who had to accompany Reid and me to Montreal while I went to a conference. She did a great job of entertaining my munchkin in a strange city. Sulienne showed Reid a good time, with just the right mix of adventures and relax time.

Happy birthday, Sulienne.

As I’ve mentioned before, Reid and I discuss what day of the week it is each morning before she gets out of bed and what will be happening that day and evening. On Wednesday, we established that it was Wednesday and a daycare day and then I asked if Reid remembered what was happening after daycare. We’d been talking about skating lessons the night before but Reid’s answer, with lots of excitement, was “Grandma and Uncle Roge are coming?!” My “No, skating lessons!” lost a bit of its oomph in the silence that followed. Thursday morning went much the same with our weekly visit to Melissa’s pale in comparison to the possibility of Grandma and Uncle Roger’s imminent arrival.

This morning, I was more prepared and opened with “When you wake up tomorrow, Grandma and Uncle Roger will be here,” before mentioning tonight’s swimming lessons. I sure hope that the weather is good for driving tonight because Reid is more than ready to see Grandma and Uncle Roger. I haven’t mentioned Aunt Lisa or Brock as I’m not as confident that they’ll make an appearance and a couple of surprise guests are better for Reid than the disappointment of last-minute cancellations.