HoboBaby

Today was one of those perfect days.  The kind of day that comes so rarely you begin to wonder if maybe you should pinch yourself, but you’re too afraid to try because you know you’ll wake up.  Today Avelyn woke up singing.  That perfect, soft, light song of a baby that wakes up safe and warm and knows she is loved.  Kevin brought her in bed with us and she grinned, open mouthed, rolling back and forth between us trading hugs and laughing as she laid her head on a pillow, something she’s never tried before.  It was the most perfect start of a morning, ever. 

After Kevin left for work she and I sat on the back porch a while.  It’s one of her new favorite things, to sit on the porch or the driveway and pat her tiny hand next to her while she looks up and mumbles a phrase I can’t understand, inviting me, no instructing me, to join her.  She could sit like that with me for hours. 

I sat on the cold concrete while she crawled around pointing to all the things she knew the words for, shouting each one in a voice that has not yet learned volume control.

“Burrrrrr!” (bird) 
“Ayyyyyyyy!” (plane) 
“Teeeeeee!” (tree)
“Ow-uh!” (flower)

Her unruly blond curls blew in the wind and she gasped and smiled, sucking in her breath like she does every time the wind blows and surprises her.  As if it’s the first time this has ever happened.  Every single time.

Perfection

We walked around the block mid morning, and for the first time she walked the whole way all by herself, munching a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie the entire time.  We are still working on the “hold Mommy’s hand when you’re outside” bit, but she did pretty well.  She really can’t be blamed since she is my child after all, and is the epitomy of independent first born. 

She waved and quietly whispered “Hi” to the passing cars and when no one saw her and waved back I silently hated them all.  Don’t you see this precious baby waving to you!? Don’t you understand that she is shy and beautiful and doesn’t do this ever!? Don’t you know how lucky you are you non-waving-at-little-girls ASS!?

Ahem.

The rest of the day we spent chasing each other around the house, playing “beh-bee”, tickling, and working together on our memoirs, er internet window shopping.  She is really quite the typist.  You can’t tell from the photo but her shorthand is outstanding.

Nearly every half hour I would stop and realize how beautiful it was outside, and how beautiful we were having it inside and I couldn’t believe it.  Our days are mostly good, but as most days with a toddler they are usually full of lots of whining and tears too, from both of us.  But not today.  At one point Avelyn was playing contentedly by herself so I sat down at the computer bookmarking “Santa finds” online.  I peered over the couch to see this:

Can you fully appreciate what’s going on in this picture?  My child is soothing her baby doll, sifting flour in the kitchen strainer, typing on her keyboard, shouting out the words while watching WordWorld on PBS (off camera) and talking on her phone.  (Okay, the phone she’s talking on is actually a mouse but her “real” cell phone is sitting next to her, she is just so creative she’s invented multiple uses for each instrument.)  How could I have known she would reach her multi-tasking potential so young?  Oh yeah – THIS IS SOOOOO MY CHILD.

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To top off an entirely fabulous day Avelyn ate carrots at lunch.  As in Carrots.  The vegetable that grows in the ground.  I rolled them around in a little butter and brown sugar and put nothing on her plate but carrots and her sandwich and she ate them.  Not all of them but some and that’s a step.  We made chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner and yes, I was totally pushing my luck with everything but potatoes but she ate it!  We both agreed the chicken was bland so we dipped it in Honey Dijon dressing and she ate it up.  The broccoli was a little harder but I let her decide when to try it and she nibbled a few pieces.  We’re making progress. 

To celebrate our fan-tab-tab-ulous day of perfection we finished with ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Well deserved, don’t you think?

For the first time in a long time everything about my day, the whole day, was perfect.  And I just want to remember it that way.  It was perfect.  It smelled of little girls and pig tails, sunshine and wind in our hair, salty sweat on a chubby cheek from running so hard, so fast, and countless tiny bear hugs and snotty nosed kisses.  Unbelievably, undeservedly… perfect.