Happy Birthday Butterfly!

Originally published at kristyk.org. You can comment here or there.

My youngest girl turns eight today. I remember when she was born. She was early and came into the world tiny, wrinkled and red. There was nothing about her that reminded me of myself. Dark hair, dark eyes... she was a stranger to me but I loved her. For the first year of her life I worried. She was so serious, so quiet. She looked out at the world from her big black eyes and took everything in without reacting. Every smile, every show of emotion from her is a gift. Butterfly is a very happy girl, but she likes to keep things to herself. Over the past year, she has really opened up. She never stops talking now and her laughter bubbles up more often. This makes me so happy. I love to see her smile! She is my treasure, my baby girl.  Happy birthday, beautiful one!