Aurelia is a part of our story that I often find difficult to tell.
Getting to her took four years of failed fertility treatments. It took a nutritionist who analyzed my lack of protein. It took a surprise pregnancy discovered in the ER six months after IVF failed. It took multiple scares of loss during that pregnancy, one which landed me in L&D at 19 weeks with the threat of staying until I delivered.
It took 9 days past my due date, when I was so swollen that my cankles could not bend and I could not wear shoes, my nose was twice it’s usual size, and I literally had to have the rings cut off my fingers.
And while I did end up in emergency surgery following her birth, everything about my dear, long-awaited daughter was perfect.
Somehow we’ve already traversed eight years together, which feels almost as baffling as the nurse telling me in the ER I should have mentioned I was pregnant. No, lady, I’m having chest pains. You’re in the wrong room.
Named after my great-grandmother and aunt (and me), Aurelia Jane wore a “Worth the Wait” onesie as a newborn because duh. She is a seriously cool human.
Her Daddy bonded with her on day one. He was the king of swaddling and loved dressing her every day. He and I looked at each other with heart eyes and knew we had hit the jackpot, even during the days of colic and no sleep.
She was the child that walked at 9 months and spoke in clear, full sentences way before she should and let me place bows on her bald head.
As a toddler, she loved to shop with me and we spent most of the time trading kisses as she sat in the front of the cart. She talked non-stop, and when her pediatrician called her loquacious, she added that word to her vocabulary. My mom reminded me of the time I was shopping with Aurelia and she asked a woman nearby, “Excuse me, ma’am? Can I have your marshmallows?”
She’s always had a daily agenda and loves to experience new things. Dresses have been preferred since she was half her current age, and Halloween has been her favorite holiday since then, too. So much so that I once had to enact a moratorium on speaking about Halloween plans in January.
She is observant and forgets nothing. She loves to help and is strong-willed and independent (she might get some of these qualities from both of us), learning most recently to bake on her own.
Aurelia is a great big sister, or at least she is when she isn’t holed up in her bedroom with her nose in a book. She brought home a Harry Potter book yesterday and said the librarian told her, “Oh, sugar, I don’t know,” when she first wanted to check it out. American Girl dolls, unicorns, LEGOs and Roblox are her current favorites.
Her sense of humor is one of my favorite things about her. She gets me and my own warped sense of humor and her giggle is contagious. She is kind and generous and eager to please.
The beach is her happy place, and she often tells me she is saving her money so she can return. She has a plot of land picked out where she will one day build a house. Art and storytelling are her escapes from the toils of being an elementary student. Her “Aureliaisms,” as my friend coined them, keep us laughing, as do her attempts at “The Floss.”
In short, she’s a gift and a joy and I’ve yet to come in contact with someone she spends significant time with who doesn’t tell me she’s special. And we agree. HBD, AJP!
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