Ottawa-September 9, 2007
It's 6:00 a.m. and I am awake, marvelling that baby Jasmine is still asleep. Today marks our first month together. All I can say is that we are still floating, thrilled that this child has come into our lives.
She's an amazing kid. She has lifted a cloud that hung over our lives for five long years.
She is sunshine.
To celebrate this auspicious day, the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, we are going for a walk in the Gatineau Hills. When we were in China, our guide Jenny told us that nine was the luckiest number to the Chinese people. I remember sitting on a tour bus with Jasmine on my lap as she told us to climb a mountain on September 9th, and to make a wish for our children.
My wish for Jasmine is that she will always share the incredible joy that she has brought to our lives. My wish for Louis is that he always chases his dreams, as he did with this one, and remember his wise words to me," to never give up."
Both kids are wonderful. Louis is back at school, growing into a handsome young man, interested in music and theatre and sports. When he is home he is a big help to me with the baby, feeding her, playing with her, and even changing the odd diaper.
Jasmine is really happy. She seemed quite serious to us when we were in China, but that side of her is falling away. She can't stop smiling.
I often think about the massive changes she's endured in her very first year of life. To most of us such upheaval would be daunting.
But she is getting so much of what every baby needs. Lots of hugs and kisses, and good food, and music, and fresh air, and cozy time with her family as we wrap her in a blanket of love and rock her to sleep.
She also needs to know with absolute certainty that she will always have a family to count on. That is why I am so happy to be home for the next nine months. Every day, in countless ways, we will tell her that we love her.
Before Jasmine came into our lives, Pierre and I would tell Louis that we were the three points of a triangle. Strong, and resilient, because we would always hold onto one another.
Now Jasmine has turned our family into a square. She needs to know that the three of us are in one of her corners.
I think she already knows this, she shows it by smiling the moment I walk into her room every morning. And by falling to sleep in our arms every night.
Babies are truly glorious.
It's 6:00 a.m. and I am awake, marvelling that baby Jasmine is still asleep. Today marks our first month together. All I can say is that we are still floating, thrilled that this child has come into our lives.
She's an amazing kid. She has lifted a cloud that hung over our lives for five long years.
She is sunshine.
To celebrate this auspicious day, the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, we are going for a walk in the Gatineau Hills. When we were in China, our guide Jenny told us that nine was the luckiest number to the Chinese people. I remember sitting on a tour bus with Jasmine on my lap as she told us to climb a mountain on September 9th, and to make a wish for our children.
My wish for Jasmine is that she will always share the incredible joy that she has brought to our lives. My wish for Louis is that he always chases his dreams, as he did with this one, and remember his wise words to me," to never give up."
Both kids are wonderful. Louis is back at school, growing into a handsome young man, interested in music and theatre and sports. When he is home he is a big help to me with the baby, feeding her, playing with her, and even changing the odd diaper.
Jasmine is really happy. She seemed quite serious to us when we were in China, but that side of her is falling away. She can't stop smiling.
I often think about the massive changes she's endured in her very first year of life. To most of us such upheaval would be daunting.
But she is getting so much of what every baby needs. Lots of hugs and kisses, and good food, and music, and fresh air, and cozy time with her family as we wrap her in a blanket of love and rock her to sleep.
She also needs to know with absolute certainty that she will always have a family to count on. That is why I am so happy to be home for the next nine months. Every day, in countless ways, we will tell her that we love her.
Before Jasmine came into our lives, Pierre and I would tell Louis that we were the three points of a triangle. Strong, and resilient, because we would always hold onto one another.
Now Jasmine has turned our family into a square. She needs to know that the three of us are in one of her corners.
I think she already knows this, she shows it by smiling the moment I walk into her room every morning. And by falling to sleep in our arms every night.
Babies are truly glorious.
