Nine years ago today at 4:54 am I became a mother. Ani arrived after an 87 hour labor. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 1/2″ long.

She was a very happy baby. She nursed until she was 3 1/2. When she weaned, she said to me “Thank you for nursing me so long, but I am done now.”

She was speaking in complete sentences by 18 months that were completely understandable by strangers. People were always kind of freaked out by that since she was so small.

In primary they spotlight random kids sometimes. She once wrote on her paper that the location where she was born was a hospital. For her that is significant since she’s the only one of her siblings who was.

She has always been a tiny little thing. She wore 0-3 month clothes until I got bored of them when she was 7 months. Then she wore 6-9 month clothes (with feet!) until she was 2.

Speaking of clothes, she had one incredible wardrobe as a baby. I made some of her clothes and the rest I got way cheap off eBay.

She has always been an intense child. She tells us we ruined her life by having Cameron, but then I think she’d go crazy without her younger brothers around.

She has a special bond with Fritz. His first word was “Ani” and it’s no wonder. She spent hours trying to get him to say it when he was tiny.

Happy ninth birthday, sweet Ani. We love you and sure are glad to have you around.