Day: June 8, 2005

The more I get to know Helen, the more I adore this little kid. Today was another good Mommy day — we went to the pool and had lunch there, getting home only moments before the bottom fell out on a summer thunderstorm.

Her grandmother came to play for a couple hours after naptime, and I was able to go to the grocery store unencumbered by children, which was a joy. I even had a list, so I didn’t buy random stuff like I sometimes do.

I went to Agility with Logic this evening, and came back to watch a Blue’s Clues video with Helen before her bedtime. Alice was already asleep. It was just the two of us on the sofa, with her head against my shoulder, watching Joe try to figure out where Blue wanted to go to look for shapes. And then, during our nightly snuggle (“Snuggle for ONE song, Mommy”), she was pointing all around the room identifying shapes. My shoes are octagons, according to Helen.

She brings incredible joy and discovery to my life, every single day. I love this little kid.

Last night, I was trying to get Helen to color a gift bag in which I was planning to put the Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift for my parents. So I said, “Helen, can you color this bag so we can give it to Grama and Papacake?”

She selected a handful of crayons — her favorite things in the universe — and put them in the bag to give to her grandparents.

My heart melted then and there, as I explained to her that I wasn’t asking her to give away her crayons, just to color the bag.

Yesterday was a good Mommy Day for me. Helen and I played during Alice’s morning nap, and then we went for Helen’s three-year portraits, then to McDonald’s for lunch, then to the pool, then a LONG nap for both girls, then Helen and I went back to the pool and left Alice to play with Daddy, then dinner, then MORE playing, then bedtime. She slept a little longer this morning than she usually does.

As soon as Alice wakes up from her morning nap, we’re all going to the pool again. It’s a spectacular day.