Fierce. Feisty. Funny. Fearless.
Five.
Happy, happy birthday, sweet Vivi, my bunny-bunny girl.
August 23, 2005
12:39am
7 lbs. 10 oz.
21 inches long
We’re another year closer to having that bathing suit fit you! You’ve gone from being the length of my forearm to a growth spurt away from looking me in my eyes. You are the best parts of your father and me, and we couldn’t be more proud of the young lady you are becoming. Wishing you the happiest of birthday, my sweet girl!
May 18th, 2012
5lbs. 2oz.
6:50pm
How did we get here?
I went in at 1pm for my 37 week check and was told to come back at 3pm for pre-op formalities because, “we’re having this baby today.” I must have called the Hubs, but I was in such a state of denial, I barely remember it. They had told me my due date was June 12. This was May — what happened to my extra weeks? I don’t think I had even packed a bag. I must have thrown something together, though, because I was admitted shortly after 3pm and was wheeled into that frigid OR at 6:30.
We didn’t know if you were going to be a he or a she, so the anticipation was thick when the doctor held you up.
“Were you expecting a boy?” she asked, just a muffled voice floating over the drape in the operating room.
What? Was I expecting — “‘Cause it’s a girl!”
Our fiesty, funny, full of beans, fearless girl.
Happy Birthday, sweet Vivi girl, my little bunny-bunny.
A few days ago, I posted a triptych photo of V chronicling how much she’s grown from year to year. In each photo, she wears an old J.Crew shirt of mine. In each photo, the shirt gets a little shorter on her legs and on her arms. V is my third and last little biscuit, but she is not the first to participate in this photo study of growth and development. Each of my girls has their own unique outfit in which to dress up every year on their respective birthdays. For C, it’s a Grecian dress I bought on a whim while traveling abroad. For M, it’s a Lands End bathing suit that I had in my closet when I first came across this project.
In August of 2006, M was turning a year old. During her first year, I turned to a number of resources to help me navigate the first year of parenthood: family, friends, books, magazines — I was all over it, making sure that she was hitting her milestones, that she was eating from all of the food groups, and that she was engaged in activities to stimulate growth and development — Gymboree Play and Music! Kindermusik! Stroller Strides! My mother gifted me with a subscription to Parents Magazine as part of my “Welcome to Motherhood” starter pack. In the last issue before my subscription ran out, I came across an article entitled “The Swimsuit Project”. In it, author Maria Heck describes how prior to her becoming a mother, she came across a photo essay in Life Magazine. The photo essay depicted a young woman whose mother had posed her in the same bathing suit each year on her birthday. Heck was duly impressed and promised herself that whenever she had a daughter, she would duplicate the project. When her daughter was 4 months old, Heck slipped Madeline into a floral bathing suit, complete with bra cups, that had belonged to Heck’s mother. Every year on Madeline’s birthday, Heck snapped a picture. She did this for 15 years, stopping when the suit fit her daughter better than it had ever fit her own mother.
At that point in time, Heck decided that, “the chronicle is complete. She has gone from baby to young woman. If anything proves that your child grows up in the blink of an eye, it’s seeing these pictures all together and realizing that the first one was only a heartbeat away from the last.”
The Original Project via Parents Magazine, August 2006
The article in Parents was Heck’s photo essay of the very project that caught her eye. Like Heck, I was struck by the simplicity of the project, the patience required, and the unique approach in cataloging a child’s growth and development. I decided that I was going to do this project with, and for, M. We started that night, with my Lands End Tunic Bathing Suit. When C was born, we had hung up the bathing suit from M’s two year photo shoot and I began thinking about what C could wear when it was her turn. A dress that I knew I would never again wear, but was loathe to part with became her outfit. For V, a Peter Pan Collared shirt from J.Crew that I could not make work, despite my best efforts.
M at age 1 through 9
C at ages 1 through 7
V, ages 1-3
I happily relinquish those items to my girls, though, because as time goes by and the photos begin to grow in number, I am overwhelmed at how much my little ladybugs have grown and changed. Certainly, I had the fortune of seeing this project while my first born child was still young, but I think it’s one that is never too late to start. A similar take on this project is snapping a pic of your little person in your wedding gown (or menswear equivalent) and then (if you can manage it) bringing that photo out when they get engaged or married. Use it for the save the date or something.
My advice? Don’t overthink it. Choose something meaningful to you and snap a photo of it. Remember to do it around the same time every year. Be patient. Before you know it, you’ll have captured something so mind-blowing and precious, you’ll be patting yourself on the back for reading this post!
If you take on this project, what item would you choose for your little person to wear? Tell me about it in the comments!
Seven years ago:
I told myself I wasn’t in labor.
I told you to stay put because you weren’t supposed to arrive for a few more days and I had things to do.
I told your father, after hours of denial, “Maybe we should go to the hospital now.”
I told the doctors that the epidural wasn’t working and when I woke up, you were here.
7 pounds and 20 inches of perfect little girl.
Happy, happy birthday, C!
That suit gets shorter every year and one of these days, it’ll fit you just right. Until then, in my heart, I’ll keep you as little as you were when we first met.
August 23, 2005
12:39am
7 lbs. 10 oz.
21 inches long
I love you to the moon and back.
I love you batches and batches.
I love you, my gorgeous girl.
Happy, Happy Birthday!
About nine years ago, when I was pregnant with M, my beside table was overflowing with parenting magazines. I had “Parents”, “Parenting”, “WonderTime” (awesome and so sad it’s no longer in publication), and everything in between. Of all of the articles that I read, there’s only one that I can readily put my hands on if I choose to. The title of the article escapes me, but the concept doesn’t. The author created a project to capture the growth of her daughter over the years. Every year, on or around her daughter’s birthday, she pulled out her bathing suit – a fetching orange, pink and white flowered maillot — and dressed her daughter in it. Once situated, the author snapped a photo and tucked the suit away for the next year. Along with the story, there were 16 photos, starting from when her daughter was a newborn through her 16th birthday when her mother’s maillot fit her like a glove.
I was amazed and inspired. I ripped the article out, stored it with my other important papers and gave my baby bump a pat, promising to create something similar for her. Fast forward through M’s birth, first few months, and well past her first birthday. We had relocated from Richmond to Norfolk, where the Hubs commuted to work, and I psyched myself up to forge new friendships in our new zip code. During one of M’s naps, I unearthed the aforementioned article from my piles of papers and did a mental head slap. A year plus had passed and I hadn’t made good on my promise. Rummaging through my dresser, I dug out my Lands End Bathing Suit and pulled M out of her clothes. It was October, a good while past her first birthday, but she still had the chubby baby look about her. I slid her into the suit, grabbed my Sony pocket camera and snapped a few photos. I have to admit, the quality on them was not the best. I had not yet discovered my passion for photography. At this point in time, it was more like a casual fling. Still, the image was captured and I vowed to be more on top of things for the following year.
This year, M will turn nine and that bathing suit will certainly ride a little higher on her long legs. C, who is going to be 7 at the end of the summer, wears a dress that I bought from a long ago trip to Greece. As for Miss V, I did something differently with her when she was a baby. I did a monthly capture of her growth. Every month, I snapped a picture of her with a sticker denoting her age decorating her chest. Because I was so dutiful in this endeavor, I didn’t really think about doing a yearly snap as well, until M & C called me out on it. So, I bestowed upon her that J.Crew sweater that I just could not make work into a suitable outfit. It’s well past her knees, loose in the neckline, and the sleeves cover her hands, but it’s already way more flattering on her.
They say the days drag and the years fly. Watching my girls literally grow into my clothes means I know this to be true.
Happy Birthday, V.
May 18th, 2012
5lbs. 2oz.
6:50pm