Four.
Whilst there are still many obvious traces of the toddler you have been the glimpses into the past to see the baby I once cradled are more fleeting, more rare and more precious. When you sleep the shadow cast by your eyelashes onto your cheek is still the same, when you curl your fingers around mine although your nails are painted and your hands are so much bigger it is still the same grip as when you were hours old. Although your legs dangle way down to my knees when we cuddle you still fit in my arms the same, although there is frequently an overtone of Barbie spray about your scent, when I bury my face into your neck you still have that same Scarlett smell about you that you did when you were a newborn, and when I look deep into your eyes I can still see into the same soul I gazed at seconds after you were born.
They say you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. I also believe you don’t necessary know what you were missing until it came along and completed you. And that’s what you did Tarly. You completed me as a mother of a son and a daughter, you completed Davies as a big brother, Daddy and I as a family rather than simply parents and all the generations above us.
You are bold, beautiful and brave. You are reckless, feckless and fearless. It’s been a rollercoaster of a four years and far from you being born a blank canvas I feel I have barely scratched the surface so far of who you are. I hope that everyone who is honoured enough to have you in their lives realises how priviledged they are but most of all I hope you continue to be aware of how wonderful you are.
Scarlett, you do indeed bring my sunshine on a cloudy day, the month of May when it’s cold outside and will forever be my baby, my girl, my Scarlett. Happy Birthday Darling, I love you very much. xxxx
