Last week, we celebrated Baby #2’s twilight days of “two” in Disney World. Our baby girl turned three on the last day of our trip.

“There is so much love in us all, but often we are too shy to express our love, and keep it bottled up inside us. We must learn to love, to love until it hurts, and we will know how to accept love.” – Mother Teresa

Our sweet girl was an early valentine. A beauty. Our heart. Pure love.

She was born on February 9 at 3:31 a.m. It was a Tuesday. Our delivery experience was difficult for both of us. The days following were difficult too. And so, we spent her first Valentine’s Day back in the hospital on the telemetry floor.

I experienced a hint of what Beyoncé might have felt when she delivered Blue Ivy. Being a young female patient with a newborn on the telemetry floor makes one a mini-celebrity. Especially with a serene baby who never cried.

Nurses came in and out with trivial excuses or no excuse at all just to take a peek at “the girl with the baby girl.” When they ended their shifts, they came to say goodbye and coo a little more.

Something about baby love. Something about her love.

Those days in the hospital were a gift in disguise. When you allow yourself to rest in a moment—present and aware of emotion—you can be transformed. As I came to know her a little more, I came to know myself.

I came to understand gratitude even within pain.

As our baby girl has grown, she has continued to teach us so much about love. About knowing, feeling, and expressing true emotion.

Even before she could talk, she sang. The song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” was her first and favorite. Smiling around the pacifier in her mouth, she would sing “kinkle, kinkle” and open and shut her hands. Her big brown eyes wide with joy.

When Baby #3 was born, our sweet girl was only 19 months old. Yet, she could tell us an entire story through a few words, gestures, and dramatic expressions. We had to remind ourselves she was still a baby herself.

I recall one of her first stories with multiple sentences. The summer after she turned two, she recounted an event from the past Christmas. “That day, I go to zoo. I play snow. I fall down, hit my knee. I cry. That why I cry at the zoo.”

We didn’t even realize she remembered that experience. And there she was reflecting on her tears.

As I continue to read stories and reflections from parents who lost their dear little ones in Sandy Hook, I reflect more on the tiny little things that I will always love about our own. As she turns three, here are some of Baby #2’s:

Her eyes. Her hair. Her dimple. Her teeny tiny feet. Her desire to communicate—at first by copying up-down-up-down with her arms. Hearing her first words: Momma, Dadda, bird, cracker, hi, pease, and thang-u. Waking up in the morning to hear her singing to herself in her bed. Her attention to detail and order. The way she dances through the day. Her sweet soft kisses and enveloping hugs. What an adoring little sister she is. What a sweet big sister she is. Her affection for “Dome Depot” because she spent so much time there when we renovated our home. How she named her doll “Baby Sarah” after me. Her super ticklishness. How she always looks up; and, therefore, notices birds, planes, and stars. The way she knows Cinderella wears a headband, not a crown. How she told Belle “Bonjour!” at Disney World. Her resilience. Her sensitivity. Her magical perspective: someone is sitting on the crescent moon, the trees are dancing, and the choo choo train horn said Hello, happy Valentine’s Day.

Baby #2 is special because I can truly know her at each age. I have the reference points of who she was just a breath ago.

And who is just a breath away.

She allows me to linger in the moment. Notice. Remember. Love.

Dancing, singing, picking flowers. That’s our little girl. This song from a South Indian film must have been written for her.

Chinna Chinna Aasai
(A popular song from the Tamil movie Roja.
The true beauty of the song lyrics is said to be lost in translation.)

Little, little wishes
longings that fly away on flapping wings
wishes like little pearl drops
longings I hope to fulfill.
To touch the moon and give it a kiss,
To have the world spin around me.

How I wish
I could turn into a jasmine flower.
To catch the breeze and fling a garland over it,
To touch the soft clouds,
To leave all my worries behind.

I wish…
To dance along a paddy field planting saplings,
To catch a fish in my hands and set it free again,
To drape the rainbow around me,
To fall asleep inside a snowflake.

Little, little wishes
longings that fly away on flapping wings
wishes like little pearl drops
longings I hope to fulfill.
To touch the moon and give it a kiss,
To have the world spin around me.

Happy birthday to our first baby girl.

What are the small things you love about your little ones? Let’s chat in the comments below.

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