July 29 marked Linnea's 5th birthday. We merrily celebrated her birth day dinner at Paradise Found, a restaurant near Sambo Creek. We happened upon Dante and Kristen, our hosts and chef of said establishment. Their bed and breakfast/restaurant was a few "doors" down from Helen's, one of our new favorite spots in Honduras. About 20 minutes outside of La Ceiba, Helen's provided us with a spotless room, beautiful garden, swimming pools and of course, a great view of Cayos Cochinos and the Caribbean Ocean (all for 700 Lempiras a night - about $35!)
On Linnea's birthday, she said, "Mama, now I'm a full hand!" This is true, as she is now 5 fingers. We are thankful for the whole had, because it replaced the handful that she once was. When we were hopefully awaiting our baby's arrival in July of 2005, we were expecting it around July 15 (by our mid-wife's best prediction, assessment and know-how). Mid-July came and went... we got into the 20's, and then some until our baby finally made its grand arrival exactly 2 weeks after the due date. We were having this baby in a birth center, where they tend to be cautious about late babies, as they can sometimes grow very large and the medical tools to perform cesarean assistance become necessary. None of this kind of intervention was possible in the birth center, nor were there nether-region numbing drugs. But we were not worried, as no one suggested to us that our baby had grown quite large. Toward the final days, a nurse stated that she thought this would be about an 8 pound baby. No problem... Dempsey was an ounce shy of 8 pounds. This was old hat.
After 45 minutes of grueling pushing (moms, you know what this means), a healthy, red/tan, plump baby made its way into the world. For the first minute or so, we didn't know if it was a girl or a boy. We just rested in the present moment. There was heavy breathing, exhausted laughter, terms of endearment, and Nancy (mom) wondering - dying to know - if this baby was a boy or a girl. Jennie lifted the baby off of her chest and we could see it was a girl. Tears flowed from Eric's eyes and phone calls were made to tell family and friends that a new baby girl was in the world. When Nancy called Amy, Jennie's sister, Amy could not hear Nancy talking over the high-pitched cry of the newborn. A 10 1/2 pound newborn that looked like a 1 month old infant!
"They had a girl!" declared Nancy.
"What?!" asked Amy, unable to hear.
"They had a girl" Nancy repeated.
"What? I can't hear you!" repeated Amy.
... and so on...
Linnea had some pipes of her own and we soon learned that there was no way she could have been born in mid-July. That would have made her a Cancer. This girl was destined to be a Leo. As an infant, she could go from zero to 60 in about 4 seconds, with 60 being an ear-splitting cry that could be heard half way down the block. Literally. When she grew hair, it was wild, like a lion's mane. She loves to be the center of attention and the goof ball. She will fearlessly speak Spanish to any local who speaks to her.
Within a few days, we realized that this new addition to our family had a lot of fire. This is why we named her Linnea. You see, the other choice was Scarlett. Whew!
Linnea is the name of a small blue flower that is one of the first alpine flowers to break through the snow in spring. This flower was named after the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. He was the inventor of the universally recognized system of classifying plants and animals by using binomial Latin classification. Today, there are women all over Sweden with the beautiful name, Linnaea. People often ask us if her name is Hawaiian. No, it's Swedish. Oh, are you of Swedish heritage? No.
We named her, partially, after a cafe in San Luis Obispo. Aptly named Linnaea's Cafe. A little old Swedish grandmother owned this cafe that we loved when we were going to college there. A cafe, a flower, a love for plants and botanists. Our Linnea.
Here is Linnea with her new Molly and Emmett dolls and her giant rack of ribs and baked potato with 5 candles in it. The restaurant didn't have any desserts on the menu for the night. If we have learned anything while living in Honduras, it's that you have to improvise. She didn't seem to mind.
