The true story.

Boys usually get their names at their Brit, when they're eight days old. Girls get their's earlier, the first time the Torah is read after their birth (Monday, Thursday, or Shabat). There is an alternate ceremony for girls, called a Simchat Bat- Joy of the Girl. Here's what we said to explain why we named our daughter Laivav Shabat.

Giving birth to a child unlike our others was quite a surprise. It has also been a learning experience. We've come to understand lots about ourselves through her. She has some special traits: she accepts things pretty much as they are, without so many demands. She's pretty happy about life. We all could use a dose of that.

Pretty quickly she started fitting in with the rest of us. She's a delight, and we love her. Her siblings enjoy being with her, and so we have a good time.

It has taken much more work to help her develop than we have had to put in with any of our other children. She has weekly physiotherapy from an early age. At one and a half, she is getting to be a reasonably good crawler, stands up alone in her crib, and is on the verge of cruising, travelling along the furniture.

At age four and a half, here's how things stand. Laivav is physically very talented. Climibng a 10 foot ladder is neither a challenge nor scary (for her- her mother is more scared). Nonetheless, when she sees one, up she goes. In general, climbing is one of her strong points. Her extreme flexibility (70% genes, 30% her father's a dancer?) makes going up easy, and she seldom misses an opportunity. She has an acute awareness of what she should do and what she shouldn't do. That which she should do, she often does, in her own inimicable way. That which she shouldn't do, she fastidiously waits until we're looking away before she makes a break for forbidden territory.

Speech is coming along. First of all, Laivav does not believe in consonants. Who needs them anyway. Also, she has found that the first syllable of most words is irrelevant, and does without. She knows the names of many things, and has begun to string together short sentences.

As far as emotional maturity, she is sometimes surprising. On the one hand, she has the traditional strong will so many downies exhibit. But she quickly accepted a conditional. You want more chicken, you have to eat your salad first. And she does.

We're sure that there are surprises and lots of unknowns waiting for us in the future. So we keep feeding her, tickling her, and hugging her, and we'll see where we go. Hashem Yaazor.