People have told me since Shelby was born what a beautiful baby she is. Her skin is olive and she bore no stork bites and since she was breech and a c-section baby her head has always had perfect shape and she bore none of the battle scars of a naturally delivered baby. Of course we thought she was beautiful, but we could not believe how complete strangers would approach us (and still do) to share their thoughts on her.
Perhaps the sweetest stories of this have come with my encounters with children with her. When Shelby was just a few weeks old, I had to go to an outpatient center in the hospital to get my blood drawn. While we were waiting, Shelby was in her carseat asleep, a mother with two young boys came in. The oldest was about four and he casually walked by her carseat, sneaking a peek as he did. I pretended not to notice as he obviously didn't want to be found out. A short while later, he came by again and this time, stopped and bent over, close to her face. He looked up at me, looked me right in the eye and whispered, almost reverantly, "She's so beautiful." I smiled back at him and said thank you. It warmed me how sweetly he had examined her and how he saw in her little sleeping face all the innocence and gentleness we all see in newborns. He was in awe of the power and beauty of new life. He helped me to appreciate what so many had told me before. Physically, yes, Shelby is beautiful, but she is also a reminder of the beauty of newness that God gives us in the form of these tiny little babies.
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