Photos: Celebrating Madeline

Oh those eyes kill me sometimes.

I have no problem saying that my mind is like a sieve sometimes.  I can recite my drivers’ license number by heart, but ask me what we had for dinner two nights ago and it is going to take some serious concentration.  I have some friends, two in particular, who have steel-trap memories.  Any time I need to remember a silly detail that I might have shared with Sarah, but have since forgotten, I know she remembers it.  Sometimes she remembers things I’d like her to forget!  ;)  I totally wish my mind worked like that.

I think my memory used to be better.  Perhaps pre-kids.  Or when my mind wasn’t so full of 1,367 other things that I need to remember or be responsible for on a day-to-day basis.  Part of the sucky memory is why I take so many pictures.  Because when all else fails, a photo won’t.  It can burn that cherished memory into your mind’s eye forever and a day.  And you can look back and relive (and refresh) those memories when your mind just won’t conjure it up at will.

The kids seem like they’re growing up so fast.  Some days I wish I could just freeze them at this age, so they don’t grow any bigger.  Other days I just want to fast forward past some of their current growing pains.  But I don’t ever want to forget all those little details.  The details of them being them.

Here are just a few photo details from Madeline.  Next Wednesday, it will be Nick’s turn.  Oh, and yes, I could have totally edited out the little bits of dried milk (or frosting) and specks of food on her face, but that wouldn’t have been the point of this exercise.  This is real life.  This is her.  Every day.

Feisty.
Opinionated.
Bossy.
Beautiful.
Tender.
Affectionate.
Cherished.
Mine.

Some days as she watches me put on make-up, she asks for a bit of eyeshadow for her eyes.  Usually pink.  Of course, I oblige.  Her eyes are the color of her Dad’s, and I love watching her sleep.  There’s nothing like watching a kid sleep.

Today she also asked for “soft pants,” her Cinderella shirt and her sparkly shoes.  Oh, and a ponytail.  We’re in a phase where ponytails are good.  Thank goodness.

She loves stuffed animals.

When she’s tired, she still sucks two of her fingers.

She hates sleeping in her bed alone and usually convinces Nick to sleep in there with her, or she crawls into his bed.  I asked them last year if they wanted to use one of their bedrooms for their beds, and the other for a playroom, but Nick opted for separate bedrooms.  If both hadn’t been painted for their individual tastes, I would totally just put them together now.  At least they’d be together, but in separate beds.

She gets a lot of use out of her playroom, often making me dinner in her kitchen or taking care of her babies.  Sometimes, when she doesn’t want to eat dinner, she’ll tell me that she had dinner already.  Because she made herself chicken in her kitchen.  Right.  She’s a crafty one.

Today she wanted to wear a ring, choosing a heart-shaped one because it matched the one I wear on my left hand. Oh those little chubby baby fingers.  Sigh, and that purple ink-scribbled hand.

She hates to use soap when she washes her hands.  For some reason, she will do it unprompted at school, but not at home unless I stand over her or remind her.

Those little baby toes.

When she gets mad, she shakes her little fist at me and stomps her foot for good measure.

She eats cherry tomatoes like they’re candy.  Her teacher remarked last week that she’s never seen anything like that.  I take that as a compliment.

Whether you have kids or not, take out your camera.  Regularly.  Document the every day.  Your family.  Friends.  Surroundings.  The mundane.  The ordinary.  Big stuff.  Small stuff.  All of it.  Because it’s those little details you’ll yearn to remember years from now and won’t be able to.

Project 365
March 9, 2011, Photo #66
Lunch. Tuna on whole wheat sandwich flat with smooshed avocado and a side of salt and vinegar popchips.