Now you are two

I thought I’d tell you a bit about my little wonder woman, who turns a great big two today.

Florence was born on a hot day in July 2013, at the same hospital her dad was staying in after he’d fallen ill two months before. You could say she already knew a bit about stress, as I was seven months pregnant when Roger suffered a portal vein thrombosis and was admitted to intensive care in May. It was the point in my pregnancy when I remember thinking right, I’m going to try to wind down a bit now, take it easy and enjoy this part, when catastrophe happened and our world was turned upside down.

We hadn’t found out she would be a girl, but my amazing midwife had offered me a late scan in case I wanted to have a peek and tell Roger to cheer him up a bit. Tempted as I was, we really were dead set on keeping that a surprise and I am so glad we did.

The weeks leading to the birth were worrying, as I was spending every day at the hospital with Roger and was really stressed about when our baby would arrive, whether Rog would be able to be there and who would look after Sam while I was otherwise engaged.

My contractions started very conveniently on the afternoon of my due date, so I had a bit of time to warn my parents to come over that evening before I had to go to hospital the next morning. My mum and my fab friend Caroline helped keep me calm through the trip to the maternity ward and through the birth – which was in no way as calm and serene as my first, but it was quick so I am thankful for small mercies!

Unfortunately Roger wasn’t able to be there in time, but was brought down from his ward a few minutes later just in time to give me a huge hug and a kiss and have a hold of his beautiful little girl.

Florence Martha, you have given us hope, joy and completion. You are our longed-for second child and the sister Sam always asked for. You hug me when I cry, make me laugh when I’m blue, and wake me up when I’m tired, but without you in our lives the past two years would have been a much darker place. You’ve been a ray of sunshine for us and a friend to Sam.

Your life will not be the one we would have chosen for you, as your dad won’t be here in years to come to hold your hand, but his love for you – along with ours – will never leave.

Happy Birthday gorgeous girl.

Oh and because I don’t want to forget, at two, you like to…

– Call yourself ‘Forrie’ but have finally mastered how to call your brother ‘Sam’ rather than ‘Bab’.

– Call Granny and Grandma ‘Gary’, to our amusement.

– Ask ‘What you doin’ mummy? What you doin’ daddy? And what’s that noise? a lot.

– Say every single rabbit you see is Peter Rabbit.

– Pretend to use your toy phone to ring around asking who has daddy’s paper.

– Drink your milk from a bottle (I know, it’s bad but this second child has got away with far more for longer than her bro. Anything for an easy life).

– Accessorise up every outfit, and more recently, demand you always have pockets, and say ‘I don’t like it the dress/romper suit’ before immediately changing your mind and saying ‘Yeah, I like it romper suit!’. A woman’s prerogative.

x Julia

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