The three of us were equally excited about the eruption into our world that is Ilyana. Two of the three of us had a closer concept of what to expect from this new development. We did what we could to prepare Havana. But like birthday parties or friends about to visit, sometimes the event is so exciting in a small person's brain that it doesn't allow room for details. Such was Ilyana's birth and consequent first month of life.
Havana has done all a girl could do to get Ilyana to act like the sister she expected. She prodded. She poked. She pulled limbs. Yet Ilyana has not yet acted like a baby sister should. She doesn't talk. She doesn't walk. She can't play. She hardly engages in the simplest of all communications: eye contact. And eye contact. That's okay for teenage love but hardly the first rung of play. And that's what Havana believed we ordered: a playmate. A sister.
Eventually Havana will get a reaction out of Iyana, something more complex than a wail. And even if it's not what she thought we ordered, she doesn't want it returned.
