Fitting Five

Before you start to freak out NO WE ARE NOT PREGNANT! LOL But we do have a great big 5 year old now! Marlena celebrated her 5th Birthday on Friday January 3rd. We really can not believe it.

As with the holidays, birthdays are another emotional roller coaster for me. From the moment Marlena was born I knew she was one of the most special things in the world. And therefore every year on her birthday I remind her how incredible she is and in the process remind myself of the incredible way she came into this world. Just to recap because everyone loves a good baby story :) Marlena was a surprise pregnancy; I was working on my masters degree in London and Mark was home in Bermuda working and living on our first boat 'The Stone Rose'. Distance made our hearts grow fonder for sure and as a result my masters program was cut a year short with the surprise of a baby girl on her way.

We bought a new boat 'Alibi' and moved our little home into Dockyard (previously we had lived out on the mooring). Marlena would be the first niece and grandbaby to both sets of grandparents and aunt and uncles, and the first baby for most of our groups of friends. She was special from the start; full of firsts. Our due date was January 9th and through my pregancy I was warned about babies coming both early and late and I should be prepared for a Christmas or New Years baby and being on the front page of the paper. I was having none of it. Christmas passed and then on New Years Eve we made plans with friends to stay over at a hotel and ring in the new year (determined not to have the first baby of the year). That night she 'dropped' and her entry to the world began; but I was not going anywhere knowing full well it could still be another week before she came. We spent New Years Day back at home on Alibi resting and watching movies and then on January 2nd at 8:30 in the morning I woke Mark up with my bags packed and contractions timed to a regular 10mins apart.

We were nervous being first time parents so off we headed to the hospital. I was in early stages of labour but they told me it would be better to labour at home where I would be more comfortable and to come back when my waters broke. Little did they know that a 40ft boat was much less than comfortable at this stage in the game so we went to Mark's mums house just down the road from the hospital where I laboured away until we couldn't take it anymore.

Once admitted back into the hospital our family and friends anxiously awaited the first Brookes-Goodwin baby. My brother who was visiting from Canada bought flowers and sat in the maternity ward waiting room patiently, anxious to meet his niece. He was so excited he would get to meet her as he was scheduled out the next day.

Proud Parents of Marlena Rose Goodwin Jan. 3rd 2009

Marlena took her dear sweet time we saw two shift changes of nurses and my poor brother ended up going home for the evening unsure what was going on. At 9:37am the next day Marlena entered the world and we became the proudest parents of a sweet 7lb baby girl. Everyone was able to come and visit her in the hospital that day; Mark's sister, my brother, his parents, my parents, countless friends, even Mark's brother Adam who was on the container ship the "Oleander'. It arrived that afternoon and as soon as he was in port he ran from front street to the hospital, up the flight of stairs to meet his first niece. I will never forget when he held her for the first time and a bead of sweat was running down his face. He quickly told Mark to take the baby and I was certain he was about to drop her; he then explained he didn't want to get sweat on her. I believe that from that moment on the two of them were connected in a way we have no way of understanding in this world. Their connection was not one that is explained easily. He was and still is in death very special to her and i'm so glad he had the opportunity to know her even for a short time. There are so many ways that their one relationship make her so special; if you are into numerology the fact that she was born on the 3rd and he was taken from this world on the 3rd, if you believe in signs; her first favorite animal was a ladybug and after Adam died Marley and Pa were playing in the bushes and found a ladybug bracelet that we had never seen before perhaps sent by Adam.... it goes on and on.

Marlena at her Nursery Graduation 2013

 

Now this beautiful baby girl is a great big 5. After so many 'firsts' 5 seems to place her in a new stage of life. Perhaps it is because it is 'school age' but seemingly 5 signifies she is no longer a baby but instead in the begining stages of becoming an independent woman. It is empowering to watch but at the same time heartbreaking. She continues to amaze me the way she is learning to read, solve math problems- today alone she counted to 264 all on her own! She is learning to sail her Opti, cook and bake, tie her shoes, her writing is incredible and every chance she gets she wants to write something down. As she grows she is also looking for her independence which can be scary. She will climb aboard on her own, wake up and dress herself and entertain herself until we are up too, and she is forever finding ways to get what she needs like climbing up into the galley to open the fridge or unlocking my phone to call Grammy. She has started to say things like 'I want to live in a house', 'I want my own room', 'I want a new baby brother or sister'. All things that Mark and I take turns discussing with her and trying to figure out where her true intensions lie. For now it seems these are just statements identifying her differences to her friend's homes. We are happy and comfortable on the boat but as long as she continues to grow and we talk about her wants and needs a time will come where my little baby is going to need more space. For now though we can fit 'five' just perfectly.

 

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