I just made the count

Tribute to Sunshine 

She just made the count, born the day before Federation year census in 2001, recipient of an exclusive t-shirt to commemorate it, on the front page of our local newspaper as a newborn and has been delighting us with her loveliness, laughter and life ever since. Amy - French for, 'much loved' is indeed her name's sake. Happy 11th Birthday Sunshine!

Sunshine entered this world at the respectable hour of 9am on the 6th August, 2011 after a comfortable 5 hour labour. And yes we did make it to hospital! After 2 of her 3 older siblings were unplanned home births, her Dad had had enough of home midwifery and really wanted someone else to help this birth! It was a very nervous drive to the hospital let me tell you! I really, really didn't want to have a baby in a car, nor an elevator! Thoughtful from the womb, she waited till we were safely in the maternity ward to make her debut. 

She was surprisingly the heaviest baby of all our four, 8 lb 2 oz. I even asked the midwife to weigh her again as I had felt the smallest during my pregnancy & didn't believe her birth weight. She too was our 'only surprise' in terms of sex. With our first three we had either been told the gender by the radiographer or actually saw the scan and could work it out for ourselves. I had so prepared myself that Sunshine would actually be a boy as it seemed too good to be true to have 2 boys and 2 girls. So I convinced myself that she was a he! You can only imagine my overwhelming joy when she was born a she! Still feels too good to be true. Many have asked for the recipe, alas there isn't one! 

Ridiculous as it sounds, one of the first things I said when she was born was that we had saved $X on a circumcision! Her Dad quickly replied, 'and gained $10K bill for a wedding"! Now before you all think we are barbaric for having our son's circumcised, both being nurses we have seen more men have circumcisions later in life for medical reasons on surgical wards than we can count, so rather than have to go through the agony and embarrassment of this as an adult, chose to have our son's circumcised as the Jews have done for centuries, within 8 days of birth. 

I had really wanted to spell her name, Aimee, as do the French, but her Dad thought that everyone would spell it wrong, so we went with ease of spelling. I agreed to the spelling also because she was named after, Amy Carmichael, so it made sense to keep the spelling the same! Her middle name, Rose, is to honour her paternal Grandmother. Though her Grandmother's Mum, Great Nana, didn't really 'approve' of her name, saying it didn't match with the biblical theme we had given all our other children! She suggested we rename her Naomi, which we had actually considered, but also I had liked the French version which translated is pronounced, No-emi! Again her Dad didn't go for the French variation, arguing that we would say, "No Amy, enough without calling her that as a name"!

So 'little much loved', as we affectionately call her, is the youngest of our four. Though technically the 'baby' of the family, she is probably the most responsible. Even her brothers say, "if you want something done, ask Amy! If you have a message, tell Amy, she'll remember!"

She's organised, disciplined, thoughtful, confident, she's a lovely friend, she loves reading, she loves dancing, she loves life, she loves school, she loves routine and loves her family. And of course she loves, Muffin, who was gifted her for last year's birthday. Her beloved kitten who is now a full grown cat is Amy's shadow. It was love at first sight and hasn't faded since, Amy is a very responsible pet owner too!  

As a baby I fondly remember dinner being her favourite time of day. Highly unusual for a baby! Usually dinner time, is 'unhappy hour' in most households as babies get over tired, cry for no apparent reason and seem grumpy just because, not Sunshine. She seemed to love the buzz of family life, the routine of everyone sitting down to dinner, of being in her high chair. Vividly and fondly remember how happily she would eat, bath and go to bed, contented. An easy baby! 

Also remember her boldly asking at age 2 years when she could go for a sleep over! Evidence of being the youngest of four, as her oldest brother would have had no idea of what a sleep over was at age 2! She had seen them all come and go and thought she was ready for the same! 

So here she is now, 11 years old. A busy year of grade 6, last year of primary school and a year full of dance classes, rehearsals and eisteddfods. Amy gave up walking a long time ago. She dances everywhere; to breakfast, to brush her teeth, to her bedroom, to wash the dishes, literally she pirouettes, taps, swirls, leaps or plies everywhere! She even wakes up at 5am to practice on non dance class days, setting the alarm clock herself! She teaches me what desire, discipline and dreaming looks like! 

I thank God daily for each of my children, their lives, their health and that they are graciously granted to me to nurture, love and cherish, and cherish them I do!