Fitzy

Hi World, meet Fitzy.  Her full name is Charlotte Fitzgerald  but she has quickly grown into her nickname given to her by her father.

She was born the day before Thanksgiving last year and has filled our house with smiles and laughter (and messes, oh the mess one itty bitty crawling infant can make).  

Before she was born we were a neat little family of three.  We were pretty mobile, no diaper bag or stroller needed.  I was really getting used to it.  We always knew we wanted more than one child but damn having an only was pretty easy. Ever the planners, we were reaching the mark when our children would be four years apart as we had hoped for and threw caution to the wind.  On St. Patrick's Day 2010 we found out we were going to be a family of four.  We had no idea how lucky we were about to get.

After a downright miserable first six months, I hit my pregnancy stride and enjoyed the last months of carrying her. On a chilly November morning I  waddled into the Labor and Delivery floor of our hospital.  I hoped for a VBAC but for reasons beyond my control we ran out of time and she would be delivered via c-section as her sister was four years prior.  The OB asked us if we wanted to listen to the Top Gun soundtrack or Celine Dion's greatest hits.  We picked Top Gun (no brainer, really).  She was delivered as Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire was playing.  This was no accident.  Karma, kismet, fate, whatever you want to call it was at work. I could not think of a better song to start the soundtrack of Fitzy's life.  You see, our second daughter is quirky and wild.

  

Wild in a great way.  The kind of wild that makes me leave a pile of puffs on the floor and dirty dishes in the sink to sit and play with her.  She demands our attention and repays us with giggles, smirks and an occasional nose pinch.  

The kind of wild that astonishes her family when she starts crawling up the stairs at six months old. The kind of quirky baby who would prefer quiche to infant cereal in the morning.

She challenges me in ways I could have never imagined and I am sure she will continue to do so right on  into her teens.  She makes me throw my head back and laugh, she makes me frustrated beyond words (anyone who was on our beach vacation knows what I am talking about.  The only thing that made her stop crying was egg salad sandwiches.  Weird, right?).  She makes me think we are nuts for considering a third (eventually). She makes me feel blessed when I tuck her in at night and she smiles sweetly and goes right to sleep.  She makes me a better mother.