In 2 short days...

...my baby is turning 5. FIVE! Where did the time go? I remember being 15 and feeling like life was proceeding at such a s-l-o-w pace. Nowadays - I can barely catch my breath.

I still remember the day she was born. I recall feeling scared - not knowing what to expect.

Jailyn Taylor Kim was born on December 10th at 9:05a.m. I remember the nurse taking our baby and placing her on my chest. For a brief moment, scenes of past movies that I've watched entered my mind: the camera panning in on a crying newborn - quieted only by feeling his/her mommy's touch for the very first time. The mommy looks into her child's bright eyes and smiles.... then music fills the air....

That was not how it happened with us.

Jailyn SCREAMED bloody murder for over15 minutes...and refused to open her eyes (for over a week!) We didn't exchange loving stares. No music. Just loud, inconsolable screeches of disapproval. ----Apparently, no one got the memo that Jailyn wanted to sleep in.

Jailyn had severe jaundice. The first 3 weeks of her life was spent in and out of the hospital for blood tests and treatments. Eventually, they allowed a nurse to bring us a machine (called Bilirubin Blanket) to use at home. She was a month old when she was finally given a clean bill of health.

Like most new moms, I really struggled with the transitions of motherhood. I was sleep-deprived, ailing from the battle wounds of giving birth to a 9lb baby, postpartum depression..... Right when it felt like I was making progress, Jailyn decided to throw in another curve ball by cutting her first 2 top teeth at 2 months old - NOT good news for a new mom trying to master the art of breastfeeding! (She had 4 teeth at 4 months...6 at 6 months....and so on. This continued until she was 1 years old with a mouth full of teeth!)

Her milestones just kept on comin':

5 months= sat up alone

6 months= mastered the art of crawling

8 months= audible sounds to cue wanting to nurse

9 months= first word (hi)

10 months= walking

12 months= speaking in 3-word sentences

From the very beginning, Jailyn defied obstacles and used her voice to make it known the SHE defines her own fate.

Now at (almost) five, she is cute as a button, smart as a whip and funny as HELL.

I don't know what the future has in store for our daughter - but if it's anything like the first 5 years, I'm sure that it will be an adventure.