Della just turned 11, and I truly don’t think I know a better human being.
ETA to add her official 11-year well check stats from August 31:
- Height: 60.75″ (90%) – she’s over 5 feet tall!
- Weight: 85.3 lbs. (55%)
- BMI: 16.2 kg/m2 (28%)
- Blood pressure: 120/80
She’s beautiful inside and out, smart, creative, caring, and has always had a heart of gold. She just babysat a couple of her siblings for the first time the other day, and I could tell how seriously she took it and how proud she was.
She is definitely the leader of the Rau kids clan, and they would all follow her to the ends of the earth and back. Thankfully, they could not have asked for a better role model in their oldest sister.
She loves reading, stickers, playing with the friends on the block (she and a couple of the neighbor girls her age just started a jewelry-making operation, and she is having so much fun organizing, designing, and creating little rings and stuff for the younger kids. she even gets paid from the profits!), doing their crafting and building game on their tablets with Lana and Morrison, dogs and babies, and just being a kid. She’s excited for middle school next year even though it’s giving me anxiety ;), and she did great getting back into swim lessons this summer. She and Lana both passed level 4 after just 1 session.
We got a beautiful sunny day for her birthday this year – Mother Nature definitely matched the day to Della.
I will never forget the day she was born – it changed my entire being forever. I had never been a girl who dreamed of being a mom, and I actually never thought I’d be a good one because I didn’t particularly like kids. But as soon as the pain and adrenaline and fear of the unknown of that first delivery, completely unmedicated and almost immediate (she was born 20 minutes after we got to the hospital!), was over and I was holding her in my arms back in the mom and baby recovery room, the only thing I wanted from that moment forward was to stay home and take care of her forever. And have like 8 or 9 more babies! That second part was obviously due to the post-delivery hormones coursing through my brain, but the overwhelming love and instant attachment I felt to that tiny baby girl was undeniable. And that is something I know will never change.
Happy 11th birthday, our amazing Della Jolee! The universe gave us one of the greatest gifts possible the day you were born, and every day just continues to prove that more and more. You are a gorgeous creature through and through, and I know you’re going to do great things. We all love you so much, my little peanut sweet pea!!
For those who like to read, here are her yearly posts: