Growing Children Cont...

Let me take a few minutes and tell you about my children, Ronni is my first born. And what a birth it was. She was what medical people call a sunny side up baby, which means that Ronni was positioned wrong when my labor started. The birth was very hard on both of us. Ronni was born with the cord wrapped around her neck and she was barley breathing. Once they go her breathing I was told that see was tongue-tied, which meant that her tongue was attached to the bottom of her mouth and she needed minor surgery. My baby recouped (faster than I did) and forty-eight hours later Mark, Ronni and I went home, right in the middle of a blizzard.
One of the fun things about having a baby is seeing the family traits that the child exhibits. Both of my daughters are very intelligent and Mark and I like to take equal credit for that. From Mark, she inherited a serious and shy nature, and an ability to focus on something for a long time. She also has his goofy sense of humor and his great laugh, along with slight dimples, a beautiful bounce in her hair (which for him is long gone), and big feet. Best of all she inherited his musical talent.
From me she was given her sarcastic out look on life, her love for books and scary movies. She also has my curiosity and my tenacity. She also got my green eyes, and mine and my father's smile. Then from nowhere she has an interest and love for animals and science that amaze Mark and I. I mean, this kid memorized the Latin names of whales for fun.

I think that it was Bill Cosby who said something like "The miracle of birth is that any woman is willing to do it more than once." So that introduces my little one named Leah. Everything was normal about Leah’s birth except the date. You see, I went in to labor on a Thursday the 12th of May, My doctor, Dr. Harrison was attending two other women in labor when I got to the hospital. The first woman gave birth around 11:00 p.m., and it was heading toward midnight, Dr. Harrison enters my room asking angrily,
"ARE YOU ALSO GOING TO DEMAND THAT I GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO SPEED UP THE BIRTH SO THE BABY IS BORN BEFORE MIDNIGHT?"
"Why would I do that?" I asked. In a calmer voice she told me that her other patient didn't want her baby born on a Friday the 13th, so she was demanding some kind of drug to speed along the birth. Dr. Harrison refused.
"I would like the baby born as soon as possible, but not because of the date, but because I wanted to get the labor over with." As it turned out, the other mother gave birth at 11:59 p.m. That was one determined woman. Leah wasn't born until 2:30am Friday the 13th. The date didn't matter to me because Mark was also born on a Friday the 13th, and Ronni was born on a Wednesday the 13th, and both of then turned out all right.
Leahis like a ray of sunshine. She brightens up any room just by walking in to it. I am constantly amazed at her ability to appear at ease in any social situation (no matter how nervous she is), a trait that runs in my family, that some how skipped me. Like me, she loves ballet, art, and musicals. Also like me she looks delicate on the outside, but is a tough cookie on the inside. She also is tenacious.
From Mark she inherited his humor, his great laugh, his drawing ability and his gentleness, the wave in his hair, his dimples, and his blue eyes. Leah is also musically talented; she has a great singing voice. She has a sense of style that is all her own, we have no idea where it came from. Most of Leah’s clothes are hand-me-downs, yet she is able to take a shirt from Ronni and that skirt from a friend and shoes from one of her cousins and turn it in to a "Leah original". Between the ages of 5 and 9 it was Leah’s dream to be a fashion designer. This was an ambition that I found odd considering that my wardrobe is black, gray and white-with a little brown thrown in for color.
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Back at the pediatrician's office: The girls have a wonderful doctor, her name is Dr. Chin. The woman is Asian and I have no idea how old she is. She is thin, pretty, and very kind. She stands a little over five feet tall. Ronni will catch up to her soon. Both girls like her very much. The visit goes fine; all their shots are up to date. Mark is in the room for the first few minutes, then leaves the room when the exam starts. When he leaves Dr. Chin says to me,
“Now that it is just us girls, I think it is time that we talked about a bra for Ronni.” I was thinking, "She is only ten, not yet". But I knew the doctor was right. Well, if I was looking for something to take my mind off my up-coming biopsy buying my daughter her first bra was going to work very well.
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We live in a small charming suburban town that I will call Beaville. Beaville is more of a small town surrounded by suburbia. It is only 12 square miles in landmass, with a population of just over 7,000. The town was a minor player in the Revolutionary War; it has historical buildings, a lovely Down Town and a 200 year old ghost.
One of the best events in town is the annual Memorial Day Parade. The people who march in the parade all gather early in the morning, in the parking lot of Beaville High School (which is next-door to my house). The excitement and noise build as more and more of the marchers arrive. At around 10:00 a.m. the town’s people start to line up along the parade route, and at 10:15 the police start blocking off Main St. Which is also very busy two lane high way. The parade starts at the High-School and ends a mile later at the Town Hall.
At 10:30 a.m. the Parade starts. In the parade are the high school band, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, both base ball leagues teams (Why two? Can we say "ego," and "does not play well with others?") The women’s business association, some Civil War re-enactors, fire trucks from our town and some of our neighboring town, and anyone who owns an old car. It has become tradition for each organization to toss candy and soft toys to the kids watching the parade.
Mark, Leah and I walked over to the front of the old Library building (that’s what a business center housed in the old Library building is called) to secure a place. We like that location because there is a little wall that’s nice to sit on. Ronni was not with us because her Girl Scout troop is marching in the parade. We were very proud, not only did she march, but she was the flag carrier for her troop. For a few hours that day I was actually able to relax and have a little fun.