Ada Verastic Is Two Today! Where Did All The Time Go?

You guys, my baby is a full blown toddler oh! and I’m not understanding how this happened. I still refer to myself as a “new mom” because that is exactly what I feel like. Meanwhile, some people who had babies around the time I did (and even after I did) have already had second babies. Yet, here I am still feeling like a new mom.

It feels like only yesterday I was on here telling you guys that Igwe and I were expecting a baby. And I remember some of you thought it was a belated April Fool’s joke. Ha! You people just have no chill. And then next thing I knew, Ada Verastic was here and status was elevated to mommy. And then it was her first birthday, and now it’s her second birthday. Wow. One thing is for sure, you are a part of my life. You’ve been here for every major thing. You’re family! I don’t have siblings, so you’re Ada Verastic’s uncles and aunties, and I thank you for that.

Ada Verastic has changed my life. She has changed my thought, attitude, opinion, and perspective on a lot of things. She has made me look at my own mommy differently, and I even look at God differently because I think to myself that if God loves me half as much as I love Ada Verastic, then He must really, really love me.

When I brought Ada Verastic home three days after having her, she was a helpless little human being who slept most of the day and could not hold her head up. Today, she’s talking back, yelling at me, running errands, wearing my shoes, going in the fridge to get her snacks herself, and using my perfume.  Sometimes, she does certain things and it’s deja vu because I remember my mom telling me stories about me doing the same things.

As you know, Ada Verastic looks just like her daddy. However, in everything else, she’s just like me – even in the thickness of her thighs. Lion no dey born snake.  I already see traces of what Solachi would refer to as OCD. For example, she judges food by the look and wouldn’t eat certain things based on how they look (like chocolate ice cream; she thinks ice cream should be white/cream, never brown). She also does not like anything she perceives as dirty to touch her. She’ll stop whatever she’s doing to go “fix” something, like she would stop eating to go make her bike stand upright, instead of leaning. Open doors and drawers and cabinets bother her; she’ll shut them in a second. And of course, she does not like you to touch her hair, just like her mother.  This child is truly my child. 

Then there’s the element of play and her burst of energy at night. Even when I was pregnant with her, she used to be most active at night. Every night, it was as if there was a party in my belly. Today, she’s still very active at night. She literally runs around in circles for no reason. While the rest of us are cold, she’s sweating from her activity. She’s extremely playful. Tickling everyone’s feet is one of her favorite things to do, and I am reminded that one thing my parents, friends, and Igwe complain about is that I play too much. Na me born dis pikin.

I don’t know what words to use to thank God for Ada Verastic today.  She is God’s special gift to me. I know she’s my daughter, but she’s also the sister I never had. For this child, I prayed. And this child is truly blessed and highly favored. She will impact her generations and beyond. I am so proud to call her my child.

Happy birthday, Ada Verastic. Ada oma. Ada nne. Nke’m. Kpakpando. Nwa nne’m, Tomato Jos.