My beautiful productive garden.
The flowers are blooming, the veggies are producing, the bees are buzzing around and we all love being out there. This is the first year in a long time that I've had both the time and energy to put into my garden and it feels so good.
Watching this relationship develop.
Is there anything sweeter than the love between a little girl and her daddy? Watching them together gives me a sweet lump in my throat.
Giving myself permission to slow down.
I was pushing myself really hard toward some sort of vague goals and it just wasn't working for me. A few weeks ago I made a conscious decision to step back, re-evaluate, and slow down a bit for the remainer of the summer. It has given me room to do things that feed me, like read, cook, knit and draw a bit. I feel much more in balance and focused, as well as creative!
My easy-going girl
While I won't say she doesn't EVER throw fits, I realize I'm lucky to live with such an even-tempered toddler. She's delighted by discovery, willing to roll with whatever is going on around her (if she's rested and fed!), generous with love and laughter, and even the occasional bad mood is generally short-lived. Recently she's being enjoying taking showers with me in the morning, reading books together, pushing her baby and Tigger dolls around the house in her shopping cart, "working" in the garden in the afternoon, and snuggling in the rocking chair for nursing and songs before bed.
Language!
I am so awed by the process of language acquisition. Just a frew weeks ago she was grunting and pointing, and now there are words. She has been adding a sign or word nearly a day to her repertoire. It is mind-boggling, really. I suddenly have access to what she's thinking about, how she makes connections between ideas, what she desires, what she thinks is funny. While most of her words (and even some of the signs) need Mommy translation to anyone else, she is getting more and more clear every day. Yesterday she said "kitty" with the hard consonants in all the right places and I was blown away. She signs "motorcycle" in the back seat when she hears one growl by on the road, and says, "Dada," when she's thinking about him. She sees animals around us that I miss and tells me about them: "Dog! Kitty!" She asks for water with her hand to her mouth and tells me she's tired by running her hand down her face. I'm even charmed by her "no," which comes out sounding like "neuf" or "oh, nyo!"
Last, but certainly not least,
This long-haired man.
LIKE
and a great picture of Gary!
Posted by: Kirsten | Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 10:34 PM