J and I are both sick.

I only slept two hours last night from raging migraines (years down the road, I think I may remember this pregnancy as “the eternal headache”), dizziness, and nausea.

J seems to be coming down with a cold.

We have been taking turns napping while the other watches Claire. I feel bad that both her parents are feeling so crappy and cranky today, and as I put her down for her afternoon nap just now, I couldn’t help but be thankful that she seems to be taking our less-than-stellar attitudes well. How she keeps me humble by reminding me that there’s always someone more important than me.

But most of all, I am thankful for her health.

At 7 months old, Claire has not been sick once since being born. Sure, she was at risk of jaundice at birth but was never officially diagnosed (her bilirubin levels were just below the cut-off) and got better within just a few days without any special treatments. There were the first few months of her life where we had to clear her nose every day due to excessive boogers, and I can’t forget her stubborn bout with thrush (which I’m told, in fact, do not bother most babies at all).

But aside from that, she is one of the healthiest babies I know. She never suffered from reflux — she actually rarely spit up and I can probably count on one hand the total number of spit-ups we suffered since birth. She has never had a bad reaction to soap, shampoo, wipe, laundry detergent, etc. She is doing splendidly with solids and does not seem to be allergic to anything.

She is, as a matter of fact, a lot healthier than me.

Maybe it is the three months of breastmilk I was able to provide. Maybe it’s just good genes. Or maybe it’s just dumb luck.

But you have no idea how grateful I am to have such a healthy baby.

Claire has a difficult personality — there is no doubt about it. She has made us endure a month+ of colic. She put us through another month+ of hell while she was preparing to sprout her first teeth. She doesn’t like to sleep, and can’t sleep well in places aside from her crib. She is stubborn, vocal and high-spirited. Strangers regularly tell me that she seems to be an “intense” baby.

Even before learning any words, she has learned to say “no” by shaking her head side to side (she does this all the time these days whenever she’s the bit displeased about anything).

But these are all personality quirks, and not related to health at all.

They say that you can’t have everything. So perhaps her good health is the universe’s way of compensating for her difficult personality?

And while I know I complain about her difficult personality — and I confess that sometimes I wish she were more laid-back, more happy, and just an easier baby in general — I know without a doubt that if given the choice, I will always take a healthy baby over an easy baby.