When does the baby become something more than the baby? She knew exactly when. It was when she turned seven. She was in school, understood more and more grown up things, still liked to play but with things that were not for little kids, and had friends that had lots of stuff going on in their lives. She was taller, prettier, and felt like a lot more than a baby girl.
Yes, she was still the youngest in her family. She was bigger now and that meant she deserved to be seen as bigger now. She would be the youngest for a long time. She grew more every day and at seven was much more than a baby. She knew it. She just didn’t make a big thing of it.
She kinda liked that she was baby girl. Her sister helped her in ways only a big sister could. Her two brothers were much bigger than her and would protect her and love her as only big brothers could. Those aspects of being the baby were good things. Plus, her Mom and Dad still thought of her as baby girl. Their littlest. That was special. Each of the other kids came first. Each of them was the baby for a while. She was the baby for the longest time since she was the last one. (Dang, she hoped so. Dad and Mom didn’t need another kid around this place.) She liked that she was baby longer than all the others put together. It was her title to keep.
So she accepted she was not baby any more. She just kept it to herself. No sense making a big thing out of it. She would keep the perks of being baby girl while being all grown up too. Being seven was cool….especially for a baby girl.
Happy Seventh Birthday, Ellie Marie Sheehan
Love, Uncle Gil
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