I LOVED Kyra’s birthday. I loved celebrating the day she was born, the day she entered our world, and honoring HER. Kyra always made me laugh, and her curiosity and excitement for what would come next made each day brighter.
Kyra came into our world in a complete whirlwind. I had a complication and, within hours, had an emergency C-section. Kyra arrived three weeks early. Part of me thought her arrival was absolutely perfect and true to form; she needed to be in the middle of everything and start her life right away. It was fitting of Kyra’s personality to take charge and join the party.
From the moment she was born, she made the cutest little noises. It was from that very moment that I knew I was going to have my hands full with her. She had such a strong sense of self from the second she was born. And, from the very first day, Kyra proved to be quite the little chatter box and talker.
We were only able to celebrate two of her birthdays together before she was taken far too soon. On her first birthday, Kyra was most excited about eating her dairy-free cake. (Kyra had a dairy allergy). She smashed it into tons of pieces and more ended up on her face, her hair, her clothes, and everyone around her than in her mouth. But, she had so much fun eating it, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Kyra’s second birthday had an Elmo theme. Elmo was her BFF. Leading up to her birthday, we had been teaching Kyra how to blow out a candle. Sometimes she would get it on her first try, and other times Kyra would try multiple times before actually blowing the candle out. When she saw her birthday cake with an Elmo candle it, she was ecstatic! For two weeks after her birthday, every night I had to pull out the candle for her, we would sing Happy Birthday, and she would blow out the candle. And, at every birthday party following hers, she HAD to be part of the candle-blowing brigade. It was so adorable to watch her take pride in blowing out the candle and clap in excitement once she succeeded. She was learning the words to the “Happy Birthday” song and would randomly burst out the song in the supermarket, at the park, or in the car.
I miss Kyra every second of every day, but especially on her birthday. I miss having her little friends come over. I miss seeing her excitement. I miss watching her blow out the candles. I miss hearing her try to sing “Happy Birthday” and hum when she forgot the words. I miss seeing the joy in her eyes with each new day. I miss her hugs. I miss calling her my sweet baby girl. And, most of all, with my entire heart and soul, I miss HER.
I miss celebrating her with her, but, I will never stop celebrating her. And, every year I want to honor her too-short life, because she brought joy and laughter to so many. So, I ask you to celebrate her with me. Tomorrow, on what should have been Kyra’s 4th birthday, join us and blow kisses for her. Blow them to heaven and blow them to your family and your friends on Facebook and on Twitter. Share her love. Share her joy. Help me, once again, celebrate Kyra.