Daphne at Age 4

Our little Dafferdill is 4 years old. Where has the time gone? I really don't know. Daphne is the perfect fit for our family. She is so sweet most of the time, but she does have a little fire in her. She is so loving and kind and she tells me all day long how much she loves me. She'll say "mom?" and I'll say "what?" and there will be a pause and she'll say "um, I love you." She has the most horrible scream you can imagine though-it seriously makes me shudder when she does it, which is only when she is really hurt or really mad. She has the sweetest disposition and she hates to see anyone sad. She will try to comfort them by sharing a toy or giving a hug. She is just a tiny litte thing but she hasn't had her 4 year check-up, and I will have to post her stats once she does. She weighs a little less than Bear. She is so funny and is always making all of us laugh. She can throw quite the temper tantrum, but if I threaten to take away her favorite pink blanky, she will stop instantly. She knows how to get her way and I'm afraid we give in more than we should just because she's so cute and also because she has the worst whine and we just don't want to listen to it. She likes to tattle and she loves to play with friends. She is always asking to go to a friends house to play. She LOVES preschool and has learned so much already this year. She loves dress-ups, barbies, movies, ponies, playing Leapster, playing with her kitchen (baking and bringing everyone "food") playing games and on the computer, and she has quite the imagination. She is so quiet most of the time and is very content to play by herself. She likes almost all food and will pretty much eat anything we give her and if she doesn't like it, she'll at least have a couple bites. Her favorite foods are oatmeal, strawberries, cereal, eggs, bacon, milk (sometimes), pancakes, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, apples, pears, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, noodles, chicken, potatoes, and hamburgers. I love this Daphne girl so much, and I truly am so grateful that she's mine. I cannot imagine my life without her!

I wanted to write my labor and delivery story on each of my kids birthdays this year since I have never recorded them anywhere. Daphne's delivery was extremely easy and uneventful, so this may be boring- sorry!

I was induced on Friday the 13th of January, 2006. It was about 5 days before my due date, but because of my history of having huge babies, my doctor wouldn't let me go into labor naturally. This baby was especially exciting because we hadn't found out the sex and so we were in for a surprise. I had thought it was a girl early on, but Andy was thoroughly convinced it was a boy and he had made me start thinking that it was also. We went into Cotoonwood hospital at about 7 AM and my mom was there waiting for us (she is a labor and delivery nurse and she was going to be my nurse that day! She had never been my nurse with my other babies and I was so happy to have her do it this time, I loved it, it was wonderful) She got me all hooked up with my I.V. and then my doctor came in and checked me. I had been dialated to a 2 or so and about 70% effaced at my previous appointment and I was maybe a 3 by now. I had tried to go natuaral with Jonah (but that's a story for another day :) and hated every minute of it, so right after the pitocin was started, I called for my epidural. After I got that taken care of, my doctor broke my water and labor started. It was the easiest labor I've had, I didn't feel one thing. My mom checked me a couple of times through the morning and I was slowly (for me) progressing. I have very fast labors, so I was frustarted when I hadn't delivered by 11 AM. I slept almost the whole time and around 12:45 PM I kind of felt a little pain. My medication had run out, so my mom called the anesthesiologist and he gave me a giant dose. Around 1 Pm, right before the meds kicked in, I felt the incredible urge to push. My mom checked me and I was at a 10! My doctor was in a surgery, but he came as soon as he could and I pushed for a couple minutes and out popped a baby GIRL at 1:13 on 1-13. Crazy, huh? We were a little shocked that she was a girl and also at how tiny she was. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 21 inches long. She was my smallest baby and I love her for it because I had no tear or episiotomy or anything. I healed so fast and felt great within a couple of days. It was wonderful. Daphne was such a beautiful, adorable baby. People would stop me constantly for months after she was born and tell me how beautiful she was. She was such a fun baby but also so serious. She was a total momma's girl which I had never experienced before. I loved it for awhile, but it got a little old :) Daphne was fast at everything. She got her first tooth at 4 months, crawled at 6 months and walked at 10 months. She was such a wonderful baby and I love her so much.