Dahlia Ranit at 9: No longer a baby

Nine years ago today, we welcomed our daughter into the world. Every time one of our children celebrates a birthday, I think about how fast time moves, and how I wish it would slow down just a little bit so that we could hold onto their childhood for a bit longer.

This is, of course, impossible. But lamenting the passage of time somehow helps me appreciate what we have while we have it. I know she won't be our little girl forever.

I'm just about at the limit of being able to carry her. As I wrote on her birthday last year, she was a tiny wisp of a thing when she was born. Not anymore: she's grown tall enough that when I carry her sleeping form up the stairs, her legs dangle pretty far down. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to safely carry her. The day I admitted I could no longer carry our eldest was a sad day indeed. So, too, will be the day when it arrives for our daughter as well.

Tonight, she'll blow out her candles, make a bunch of wishes, eat some cake and open her presents. I hope she knows how much she is loved, how awestruck we are at who she is becoming, and how glad we are that she came into our lives.

We often marvel at how we can't imagine what life was like before we had children. True enough, I feel like I've known Dahlia forever. From her bright, happy voice to the bouncy way she carries herself to the way she stops and looks at me in much the same way my wife does, she's a joy of a person to know.

As we celebrate her 9 years on this planet, I hope she continues to have that effect on whoever she meets in the years to come.

Your turn: What would you wish for a 9-year-old girl as she reaches this important milestone and starts to look ahead?