Who was this little girl, I wondered in my dream, who was going to come along at just the wrong time, but was shown in the dream to bring light wherever she went?
On a cold January morning ten years ago, you brought your own little light with you into this world. You were always the light in any situation. Your babbles and toothless grins made even the worst day more bearable, gave your new big brother something to smile about, and made me realize that the most important thing I could do, for both you and your brother, was to provide you both with a peaceful, loving, stable environment to grow up in. You gave me focus, and something to aim for: being in one place long enough for you to have the same friends over the course of enough years for it to matter.
I remember you overhearing a phone conversation I had with someone, and when I called you The Baby, you reminded me that you were NOT a baby. I then told you that while you were not A baby, you were MY baby. You gave me a wise grin, said "Ok. I like that better.", and have reminded me ever since that you were not a baby, you were definitely growing up. That was never more true than it is today, your 10th birthday.
Exit, baby. Enter, young lady.