Magic

Dear Meishka,

This weekend with you was magic. I don't think we've ever had such fun. It started on Friday night when Dada got a song in his head and whipped out a guitar to play (improvise) it. One thing you'll learn about your Daddy is that he often has songs stuck in his head, and the only way he can get them out is to play them on a CD or otherwise.

You thought this was great fun and strummed along with Dada. I think music is going to be something you two will share when you get older. I can't wait to hear what you come up with together.

Later that night, you and I were playing when you spotted Dada across the room with popcorn. You reached toward him, curled your fingers in and out (you now point and use the "milk" sign for anything you want), and yelled Da! Num num num! This was the clearest communication of your desires to date. So "Da" carefully picked through the popcorn and bit off small, safe pieces of "num nums" for you to eat. You wanted this popcorn fest to last all night. Something else you share with Daddy.

On Saturday, we met Grandpa at the park. You were a little too tired to want to swing, but you did "travel" to Spain with him, and you really liked sitting on Utah and watching people draw on the sidewalk with chalk around you. When you were only a month or two old, I would walk to this park with you and imagine the day when I would share my love of geography with you by jumping together all over this map.

Then we visited Dada on set. You were such a quiet girl. You only let out one excited chortle after they yelled "cut."

You and I went shopping for the rest of the day. I couldn't believe how good natured you were. You touched the clothes with me, and you sneaked a couple of tags into your mouth while playing on the dressing room floor--oh, delicacy! You decided hangers are fun and you only tried to crawl under the dressing room door a few times. You're getting so good at pulling yourself up that you did so using nothing but the mirror (and then sucked on your reflection, of course). I look forward to you being my shopping buddy in years to come.

I came down with mastitis (again!) on Sunday. That meant we rested, nursed, and played a lot in bed. Even though I was sick, we had one of the most delightful afternoons as a family I've ever experienced. We found out you're obssessed with the "itsy bitsy spider" song. Grandpa showed it to you the other day and now you try to make the spider sign by moving all the fingers of one hand in the palm of the other. As soon as we would finish one round of the song, you'd be urging us on to the next one with your spider sign and your brightly lit eyes. We also discovered that you love being tickled by my hair. I would "swoosh" it across your face, and you would giggle (oh, heavenly sound) then point to my hair with your moving fist to indicate you wanted me to do it again. As soon as you would see the hair coming, you'd squint your eyes up and smile in anticipation. In between all of these activities, you would crawl up on me and give me hugs.

I held your warm feet as we cuddled last night in bed and marveled at the little person you are becoming. When I'm with you, the years ahead stretch out in glorious promise.

I love you more than I ever thought possible,

Mommy