Genevieve Salome

Or, Jellybean Salami- as we sometimes call her- turns 9 years old today. Her birth seems so long ago. It was a cold night; snowy and dark. The teenager that we hired to come watch Olivia kept sleeping through my phone calls. Labor was getting progressively worse, and I wanted my epidural. When we finally were en route to the hospital, the girls' dad stopped at the gas station to buy cigarettes. I wanted to kill him. The rest of the drive was spent alternatively yelling for him to hurry up and get me to the hospital, and to slow down and not hit any bumps, because it made my pain unbearable. There were some hitches during the labor process, but what always stands out to me the most is that from the very moment Genevieve was born, she has made people laugh. She came via c-section, so I couldn't see what was going on, but as soon as I felt her being lifted from my body, the room burst into laughter. While at the time it seemed rather insensitive to me as I lay splayed open on the table, I was told that as she was brought into the world, she reached out and snatched a scissors out of the nearest hand. They had to pry them from her tiny fingers.

Genevieve has been a clown ever since. She loves making people laugh! There are times when I just plain do not understand her sense of humor, but luckily, Shawn's is identical to hers. While they are delighted to make poop jokes all day long, Olivia and I exchange glances and wonder how on earth that can be so funny. Then, we end up laughing right along with them simply because Genevieve is laughing hysterically, and it's too contagious to withstand.

She is the most sensitive child I have ever met. It hurts her to see others suffer, and she cannot lie or she will be physically ill by bedtime. When I discipline her, I need to explicitly state that I am not angry with her, or she will dissolve into tears at the mere thought that I might be upset. She needs individual attention every night, in a certain routine, even if she has been the center of my day. Then, I need to visit her while she sleeps, and dot her hand with a washable marker to prove I was there. Her most treasured gifts at Christmas and her birthdays are toys that I have made for her, and they are never far away. She endures relentless food allergies and skin problems, knowing that she is not like her friends and never will be. Traditions are very important to her, and she fully expects all of us to follow them. She makes us all better people.

She is our eccentric genius. Gen adores school so much that she is disappointed when it is Friday, because that means spending two days away from learning. Every notebook on her shelf is filled with numbers, because she plays school at home, and does math for fun anytime we drive anywhere. I can never help her with her spelling words because she always forgets the list or loses it the moment she gets home, but she consistently gets 15/15 or 14/15 for scores despite never studying. She cannot follow more than one or two commands at once; "Get your shoes on and find your backpack," is too complex to remember once the shoes have been tied, but each day after school, she gets a snack and does her homework without being asked. Every time I go to the school, I have to rummage through the lost and found to bring home half of her wardrobe, yet she is better at saving money than most adults. She has a Kindle, a Nintendo DSI, and is now shopping for an iPad Touch- all paid for with her own cash. Somehow, I feel like her personality is best summarized by her outfits. Every day, I look forward to what she will wear:

The gloves and hat are not for practical purposes- they're for flair.

This is a Wednesday night before Kid's Club at church.

This is one of her more common outfits that she likes to wear to school when she's not feeling snazzy enough for dressing up: 

Then there is this gem, which literally hurt my eyes one morning:

Yup, those are zebra socks OVER her white leggings.

Or how about this piece of magic:

You are not mistaken; that is a GALAXY on her pants.

I love this girl; so does everyone else who knows her. In fact, she is the first person that Shael said, "I love you," to. She always wakes up with a smile, excited to see what the day holds. She forgives easily. She is amazing. Genevieve, I love you!