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A little more about Katie... |
 Katie's personality was established before her birth: Things were going to be done her
way. At month five of my pregnancy she decided she was uncomfortable and turned around. Despite our best efforts to shift her back to the traditional launching position, she remained "heads up" and left us anticipating a breech
delivery. We were sure she was going to be a boy. We had no ultrasound to substantiate our feelings, but up until four days before her birth, Pat and I had only one name selected: Adam Michael. My due date came and went. We decided at about 9 months and 5 days maybe we should have a Plan B name in mind just in case the baby happened to be a girl. Selecting a girl's name with our last name proved to be more difficult than I thought. We had a few ideas bouncing around but Katharine Shirley was the one that we put in our back pocket. While we waited in "overtime" Patrick would lean in and talk to her. "Since you are the only one that can choose your arrival, if possible, let's not make it on Tuesday. Daddy has a very important photo shoot with a client. "True to form, my labor pains started late Monday night. She was delivered by C- section on Tuesday, May 17 at 1:30 pm. This set the trend for who was running the show in our house. I looked down at this pretty little very Irish-looking baby and thought no one will ever believe she is half Italian. She then became Katharine Ciardi Shirley (Ciardi is my mother maiden name). As Patrick wheeled me out of the hospital, he looked very pale and somber. I asked what the matter was. "I can't believe these people are letting the two of us take her home to care for her. We don't have a clue." The fear in his voice brought tears to my eyes because I knew he was right. And then I replied, "I'm the one the books say should have the post-partum blues, not you." She had arrived 10 days past her due date. This pattern of being late continued throughout her life. We called it "Katie time," although "fashionably late" was oh, so fitting. Most of the time, the reason she was late was due to what to wear. She was a dream infant and a fun toddler. When she was about 4 years s old, we started exploring different activities. I couldn't wait to be a soccer mom - or any other kind of car-pooling, snack-toting, doting suburban parent. We stared with dance, and for two years she enjoyed it. Then we tried indoor soccer. She didn't like that at all. Next was T-ball, but we knew as we watched her in the outfield with the mitt on her head, gazing out of the diamond to see what was going on in the adjacent fields that this might not be her sport. So we did that for one season. We suggested several other opportunities, but nothing seemed to fit. Swimming was too wet, she didn't know anyone else who played tennis so on and so on…….Then I brought home a flyer on Pop Warner Cheerleading. Katie began to read the rules, 'No jewelry or makeup, practice four nights a week…' Miss Independence said "I don't think so…………" When I heard the tone of her response I knew she had to get into a structured team environment especially since she was an only child. She joined Pop Warner and loved it. We now belonged to the cult. It bought a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction to all of us. We met so many wonderful friends and she was a part of group she loved. She cheered until the end of her freshman year. Then one season she joined the Field Hockey team -- a big surprise to Patrick and me, since she had never shown any interest in the sport or even talked about it. When we asked her why, she responded as only Katie could by saying "It's the only other sport I know that you wear a skirt as part of your uniform." After one season it became clear that, skirt or no, Katie didn't like to run or sweat.
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