The Third Is a Charm

Today we celebrated our youngest child's first birthday. We had crêpes (a tradition in France on February 2) with Pappy Alain and Nathalie. Our daughter's 1st birthday cake was a yogurt one shaped in a hear and with red icing on different parts of it (that her older sister kept picking off and eating).

It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since we left home for the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and cut her umbilical cord around 9:30 a.m. One she makes up her mind, she seems to want to move fast.

When my wife and I married nearly 10 years ago, we both wanted 2 children, as we both were from 2 child families. I have one brother and was used to boys, while my wife had one sister and was used to girls. It worked out that our first child was a boy, then our second was a girl, as we now each had one that we could identify with. The French call this "le choix du roi/the king's choice."

However, sometime later we both began sensing individually from God that we should consider having a 3rd child. When we finally talked about this together, we were both excited and scared. For this would put us both out of our comfort zones in terms of family management style ("man to man" defense into a zone defense). Space wise and financially, this would also be a stretch, as Paris apartments are small and having another child adds many additional expenses, such as an additional plane ticket.

With fear and trepidation, we began trying for a 3rd child and quickly succeeded in getting pregnant. Since then, our lives have been fast paced and full. In general, our oldest 2 children have done well in accepting their baby sister. This past year has been very busy and physically tiring, particularly for my wife. Thankfully the Lord has provided 6 young women who have helped us for different lengths of time since our 3rd child was conceived.

My wife had the impression that this 3rd child would help complete our family. After having her with us this past year, we can't imagine not having her in our home. She's been more of a mystery to us then the other two and has kept us guessing often, including when she would arrive last year, when her first teeth would finally arrive (last week), and when she would crawl and walk (started this past Christmas day). She seems to let us know that she will do things at her own rate and when she is good and ready.

She's generally fearless and not easily flustered by much, including her 2 siblings. She's now given up baby food in jars for different people foods. When she sees me drinking from a glass, she feels that she needs to sample whatever I'm drinking, including coca cola. She's imitating words now in French and English. She seems to like to move fast.

So, Bits and Bobs (one of the many nicknames that we've given her this past year), we're thankful that you're part of our lives and home. We can't wait to see what exciting things you'll learn, do, and say this next year.