happy birthday my twelve year old lovely.

It was the eve of my thirtieth birthday.

I was scared.  Terrified – actually.

Afraid of giving birth.

But you can’t stop what nature has started and late that evening, an incredibly beautiful and tiny London Elizabeth Scout was born into this crooked world to hopelessly flawed parents.

She was magnificent.

She was itty bitty and brand spankin’ new and gloriously perfect in our eyes.

It was after midnight and I found myself somehow entirely alone in a hospital room in my hometown in Virginia, cradling this swaddled, wrinkly, smooshy-foreheaded newborn in my amateur arms and singing a quiet little whispery birthday song to the both of us.

“Happy birthday to us.  Happy birthday to us.  Happy birthday my little London Scout.  Happy birthday to us.”

It was just me and her for a few moments – celebrating her birthing day and my thirtieth birthday.

I’ll never forget that moment.

I think I can still smell her newborn skin and see her fresh-in-the-world eyes.

We’ve crashed right over the decade mark and are plunging head first into the second decade of this amazing kid’s life.

London turns twelve today.

Twelve.

That’s the age you get to sit in the front seat.  More than just her perspective on traffic is going to change when she climbs into that seat on our next car ride.

I just really like being London’s mom.

She’s still a lot like the little kid she was when I interviewed her at six.

She is funny and clever and a truly capable and efficient home cook.

I love the person she is and the person she was and the person she is becoming.

It’s a gift to watch her grow and to listen to her thoughts.  A pleasure to teach her literature and how to play Scrabble.

London is funny and kind and altogether ruthless at Monopoly.  She is sensitive and alert and curious and she wants to know all the answers to all the questions and prefers a plan and she is what we lovingly refer to as a “homie glomie” who would be perfectly content to never travel to a different state or even to our own nearby town.  She likes homemade food better than restaurant fare and her best days are days when everyone she loves stays at home with her and the meals served are all her favorites and each dish is followed by dessert.