Happy Birthday to our little Solveig Joy.
It’s hard to remember a year ago, I would prop up your little head in my hand to burp you after a feeding. Your little head wobbled around so much. I promise I wasn’t choking you.
Here you are in a picture I took in the middle of the night. This was our first evening together. You were just wonderful. You made the cutest little piggy sound during feedings. You also pressed up against me so intensely when you were nursing that your nose was always pushed up like a little piggy. It’s all I could do but laugh through every feeding. Ahhh…the memories only mothers have and share with the world….
I have pictures of you with your sister too, but this one of you and your brothers caught my eye. You are their little sweetheart, especially Elias’. I don’t think he believes you’re capable of doing any wrong. He watches over you like a hawk. You still have him waiting on you hand and foot, and I’m curious to see if I can say the same next year. The nurses put you in Christmas outfits at the hospital. That’s why you wear red in all of your hospital pictures!
I think I knit more things for you than any of the other kids combined. Your coming home from the hospital outfit here is probably one of my favorite finished projects of all time. You were just born at the right time because I didn’t know how to knit when Silje and David were born, and Elias got all of my learning-to-knit pieces with lots of character. So I guess you are spoiled that way.
You somehow work your way into the heart of anyone you encounter. You were correctly named Solveig Joy because joy is the look on your face every day. Daddy and I researched that the name “Solveig” can be translated a few different ways as literally/roughly means: “Sun+house.” Some say it means “woman of the house” or “strong house” but we have always preferred the translation: “Sunshine of the House.” That describes you perfectly.
You might be crawling and into everything and determined to walk earlier than any of your brothers or sister. You may love to be held all the time and require constant supervision. However, most days you feel like an easy child because you’re just so happy all the time and make us all relax and enjoy life a bit more. You just delight in everything around you and make every other person in this house smile whenever they have an encounter with you.
This time last year I told Daddy that I thought today was the day. Well, he had heard that before in the pregnancy, and this wasn’t his first time around the block, being my labor coach and all. So he took the other kids to get a Christmas tree anyway and came back 2 hours later. When they got back Daddy sent your older brothers and sister inside for me to get them a snack and get hats and coats off while he got the tree ready to bring inside. I told Daddy things were too intense and I needed him inside to help with the kids. So he brought the tree with him inside and asked if I would hold it up while he screwed it to the base and examined if it was straight. No, I’m not sure I will ever let him forget that story. It’s so funny to us now. I think every time we get a tree, I’ll think back to the day you were born.
Even just a few hours before you were born, he moved at a snail’s pace to arrange our departure to the hospital. I remember on the way there I wondered if you would be born in our van. I still remember the thought process going on in my brain on how that would work exactly and at what point I would have to be to make Knut pull over. The roads were icy, so I couldn’t risk telling Daddy to hurry up again at that point.
You were born exactly 18 minutes after we got to the hospital. Daddy still didn’t believe it was that close and leisurely let the nurses bring me up to the birthing suite as he left me to go park the van. When he finally made it up to the room, it was moments before you arrived. I’ll never forget the look on your daddy’s face. It was like he had seen a ghost when he realized all at once how near you were. Still, your birth was the only one of that I planned to be all natural and it was by far my easiest birth. There was no fear present at your birth as my mind was “in the zone” the whole time despite the chaos going on around us. (Your brother David was unplanned natural…which is a completely different thing!) Contractions with you were 10 minutes apart for 3 weeks. That was a bit frustrating. They only moved up to 8 minutes apart just over an hour before you were born. That’s probably why your daddy was pokey in taking me anywhere.
Here’s you yesterday, your last day “being zero” as David called it. Your eye still drains, and it looks we’re going to have to take care of that. I see my lens was a bit dirty for the picture too. Good thing I have such a beautiful subject to make it all okay.
We love you so much. You are so beautiful, strong, and I love hearing your little voice. God has certainly blessed us as we get to be your parents. Happy Birthday.
Melissa says
December 11, 2011 at 1:48 pmHappy Birthday to Solveig! I remember incessantly checking your blog to see if she had arrived yet. I loved reading your birth story, too. Beautiful baby girl!
Mom says
December 11, 2011 at 6:59 pmHappy Birthday, Solveig! It’s okay if you are teary-eyed. I’m teary-eyed just looking at your sweet face and missing you so much!!!
Sheila says
December 11, 2011 at 8:32 pmHappy Birthday!!!!
That little tear duct might still take care of itself. 🙂
j&kronnevik says
December 11, 2011 at 10:13 pmHappy Birthday Solveig! Happy birthing day mama. Hope you all had a wonderful day today!
Anonymous says
March 4, 2012 at 5:52 pmhey little little solveg