Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Two Sweet Moments

Two sweet moments happened today.

One, I heard Lily tell me "no" for the first time.

We were playing outside this afternoon, perfect day for it. I had just taken down the "baby swings" and re-hung the "big girl" swings. Harper caught on like a pro. She sat, she grabbed onto the chain, and she locked her eyes on mine, silently saying, "you will catch me if I fall right?" We swung low and we swung slowly. Back and forth. Swinging like a big girl. I noticed Lily standing about 6 feet behind me, watching this new trick, intensely. I asked, "Lily, do you want to come and swing like a big girl?" She looked at me, she looked at the swing, she looked back at me, and then she said, "Nome... nome, nome, nome, nome, nome" and walked away, back towards the porch... almost like she was worried I would make her try it. I didn't make her try of course; she was very clear that she did not want to try. They both have been saying "yes" for about two months now in response to questions (do you want more? do you want to go outside? etc.) But until this moment had they never verbalized the "not-yes" - only silence and blank stares. I seriously had a moment. Seated on the grass, smiling at Harper, pushing her in the swing, and seeing her little feet brush the ground beneath her, glancing back at the other child carrying a football around the yard, I thought my baby just told me 'no' while the other is swinging in a real swing.

The second sweet moment happened just after bath time. I took Harper out of the tub first and into their room for diaper and pjs. Harper was squirmy and whiny and kept saying, "Nini? Nini?" I asked her, "what? Harper what do you want?" Again, "Nini?" I asked, "Do you want Lily?" and the happiest little light in her eyes turned on and she said, "Yessssss!!!" Of course, she wanted Lily.

I told Nick when he got home tonight, as cheesy as it sounds, "This is it. These are the moments where they are growing up right out from underneath us."

I know they can't always be our infants but I'm pretty certain they will always be our babies.


2 comments:

Eleanor said...

What a lovely post, Laura. And yes, they will always be your babies, and your heart will break, and be mended, and you'll cry and you'll laugh, and you'll hold your breath and you'll exhale, and you'll want to hold on and you'll want to let go -- and through it all, you will remember these sweet moments. enjoy them all.

Jason said...

Very nice !