Things You Forget to Remember, Continued

If you are a friend of mine on facebook, you probably know that my facebook account exists primarily for the purpose of recording all of the adorable things my daughter says until I can write them down somewhere. Now, I don´t know how much other people really care about reading my daughter´s quotes, but it doesn´t really matter. It´s mostly for me anyway.

I was amazed at how early she started saying things that I wanted to remember. So in my free moments, I think back to the things she has said that day or in the past few days that were special to me. Sometimes they are funny things, or sometimes they are things that reflect who she is as a person, and those are things that I don´t want to forget. But I will. And every so often there is a moment where I turn to my husband and say, ¨What was that funny thing Bella said this morning?¨ Sometimes we remember, sometimes we don´t. As a parent, you get this nagging feeling that your kids are growing up right in front of your eyes, every single day, and no matter how much you determine to remember, there will still be a million things you will forget.

It isn´t just the things they say. It´s in the looks they give you, the things they do, the moments you share. Sometimes, to an onlooker, that moment that you wish you could bottle up and save forever looks totally commonplace. It´s not all about the first steps or the first word. Really, it´s not about those moments at all. You know you will remember those, and, if you´re like me, you will probably have five thousand pictures and videos of those moments to help you remember in case you should get amnesia.

Tonight I was thinking, as I was putting my daughter down to sleep for the night, that sometimes it can even be the moments that you think, as you´re living them, are just annoying. Like when they won´t sleep, and you are pregnant and hot and you don´t really want anyone touching you and you just want this kid to fall asleep so you can have a little space! And then that little scoundrel, as if reading your mind, turns around, tucks one arm under you, and with the other hand, roughly pats your head, mimicking the way you stroke her hair as she falls asleep. Kids are great with that stuff. They diffuse you, just like that, and make you wonder what you were so annoyed about in the first place.

It´s the way they say. ¨I love you¨. Sometimes they actually say those words, but as wonderful as those words are, the meaning behind them is still developing. The real love a child gives her mother is active. It is given. It is returned to you in the way you give it to her. She learned to express love from you! I think that might be the most exciting thing about motherhood.

I love to watch my daughter play with her dolls and stuffed animals. She is attentive, thoughtful and affectionate. She is tender and loving. She speaks kindly to them, showers them with affection and cares for them meticulously. It makes me feel like I am doing something right. I am teaching her to be a mother.

Of course, she also picks up some of my bad habits. Ahem. So don´t think I´m bragging. I´m not.

I just love to see her blossom, and to know that I had something to do with that, even with all my flaws and failures.

I´m getting ready for the arrival of our second daughter, and just thinking about what I want to remember about Bella as she is right now. Soon she will be adding ¨big sister¨ to her list of experiences, and I´m glad for her. I think having a sibling is a blessing, and something that really helps develop character. But I´m also sad. Sad because while she will always be my baby, she will no longer be THE baby, and I know that will be difficult and confusing for her. I´m sad that we will never be just the two of us girls again. (Although I´m excited to be the three of us girls!) It´s a bittersweet time, and I´m trying to savor our last weeks as a twosome.

Some of Bella´s favorite things right now:

Stuffed animals of every variety, playing doctor, taking our order and making us a meal in her kitchen (algo más?), stickers, jewelry and TV (a relatively new discovery since in Ecuador we watch a total of 0 TV...)

Hugs, kisses, cuddles (cummy me, mommy!!), climbing all over me, trying to lick us (gross)

Ice water, fruit, candy (another USA discovery), meat of all kinds, pizza, donuts

Spiderman, but not Batman (he nasty, mommy)...and ¨Hulk for dadda¨ (Why? We don´t know...)

Trying to be bossy (I told you no, mommy!)

Beetles, but not spiders (I don´t yike it spiders)

Bathtime, especially with bubbles or colored water, but not getting out of the bath

Pink

Looking at herself in the mirror

Taking off her pants and running around the house in her undies


Shoes!!


Doing ¨exercises¨

Church, but only because the nursery has tons of toys. Ha.

Story time at the library (probably the thing I will miss most about the US)

Eating snow (another happy USA experience!)

Helping clean up (Me do it!)




Matt Redman, Toby Mac, Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, 5 Little Monkeys, ¨Yo soy¨...and others

Watching the ministry videos that daddy makes (Pa mano, papá!)



And I´m sure there is so much more! All of these things change and grow every day, just like she does, but sometimes it´s good to take a little snapshot, because there is so much that we forget to remember.

What are the things your children say or do that you want to be sure to remember?