Mary Addison

It will seem incongruous but I have to start Mary's birthday post with a disclaimer: I've never been a big fan of the epidural. After Mary's birth, I've come around a little bit. Here's Sarah not too long before Mary was born.

And here are Sarah, her Obstetrician, and Mary Addison. Everybody looks pretty pleased with themselves, don't they.

Needless to say, I've come around quite a bit in my thinking regarding epidurals.

If this birth was sweet and it was, I have to say it wasn't as incredibly sweet as the baby that resulted from it.


She never even needed a pacifier because she had a thumb which she started sucking in utero. She's always put herself to sleep that way but recently her parents decided she was too old for that. They bribed her by promising that she could paint Sarah's fingernails and toenails if she could go to sleep three nights in a row without putting her thumb in her month. Guess what. She did it and doesn't suck her thumb anymore. Just like that.

From the time she was little, she's has always enjoyed acting like her mommy - especially after her new brother was born.


And she loves helping her mommy and takes all her tasks very seriously.


She's an extraordinarily sweet, loving little girl. She uses beautiful logic for a four year old too. When she got up Saturday, I said, "You're four years old!". And she told me that she wasn't four years old until she blew out her candles. So Saturday afternoon we had a little party, she blew out her candles, and became four years old.

That evening we went out to eat at Redamak's and they brought her a birthday treat with a lit candle. Her excitement was completely over the top. I thought it was because she got a sweet dessert (which she unselfishly shared with her brother and two cousins). But that wasn't the reason for her unparalleled joy. She revealed on the way home that now she was five years old because she had blown out candles again! Perfect logic.

So you want to be careful around Mary. She never forgets anything and her logic is flawless. When we got ready for the reunion she told me she liked my unusual comb. I have two extras so I thought to give her one and asked if she'd like to have one. She said, "Yes! Will you give me one for my birthday next year?!"

So please everybody help me remember to give her one of those combs. I could easily forget but I know Mary won't.

If I do forget though, I know Mary will forgive me because that's the kind of loving little girl she is.