Happy Birthday, Emerson Claire

Her name is iambic, I think, and it's hard for me to not say it in its entirety. Like her brother, I was there when she was born, alongside my sister and across the bed from my brother-in-law. This time was much, much quicker, though, and less hard to watch, because Jess didn't hurt as much for as long. And Emmy came so fast, like once she'd decided it was time, IT WAS TIME, and we hardly had space to weep or gnash teeth. As I've detailed before, being an aunt is so important to me. Jess and I were so blessed in the aunt department, and those women continue to have such an impact on my life, that I feel honored to serve that role to V's three cousins. Jake, Beth and Chris' son, lives in Colorado (and we get to see him next month!), and Will, who first made me an aunt, are hilarious and dear to me in so many ways. But Emerson, my first niece, the sister my daughter may never have...she is something else entirely.
Maybe it's the newness of her, seeing her teeter on that cusp between baby and toddlerhood, as she wants so much to walk RIGHT NOW but instead scoots across the floor faster than we can fathom. Or the words that pour out of her, sounds and garbled sing songs, and "happy" or "puppy," whichever, both.

Maybe it's because she looks so much like Jess did as a baby, or at times looks startlingly like her Great-Aunt Sharon, a near carbon-copy through three generations.

Whatever the reason, mercy, I'm glad you're here, Emerson Claire. A happiest of first birthdays to you. I couldn't have asked for a better niece.


Emmy's real birthday is 10 July. The photos are from her party on Lake Minnie Belle. Or is it Minnie Belle Lake? I dunno. Anyway, I didn't want anyone thinking I didn't know my own niece's birthdate.