Be still my beating heart!
My daughter Holdyn will be two in just three months. I have learned more from her than I ever thought possible from someone so small. Having a little girl changes you somewhere deep down, down to your core, just as it did when I had my son. When I had Liam I thought I could never love someone the way I do him, and I was right. You see, an entire new way of loving someone was born at 11:34 that April morning. A new type of love that never existed until she was held next to my face. “You can give her a kiss or two. Take your time. We will close you up and as soon as you’re wheeled to the Recovery room, you can hold her all you want.” Those words were music to my ears! I could hold her forever, if only she would let me!
1. Holdyn is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. She makes me laugh just by looking at her intense out of this world expressions. She looks at people like they are beneath her one minute and like they are God’s gift the to the world the next minute. She has never missed a beat. She studies people and stares so intently like she is looking right through your soul.
2. She has the biggest brown eyes. When she was born she had these dark, dark blue eyes. She was born with that innate look that she still gives today. Those eyes though. Dark blue eyes just like her big brother, who actually has deep green eyes now like his mama. (It’s crazy how eyes change just like that.) I could get lost in those deep brown eyes. And I do.
3. She gives these perfect little succinct kisses. She loves to gives Eskimo kisses, or as she says, “rub noses.” Her little eyes light up and she grabs your face and lays one right on your mouth. They aren’t sloppy or wet; they are perfect.
4. She gives good face lifts. She grabs your face when she is trying to tell me something serious. I may not understand everything she says, but she has this way of staring into your soul while grabbing your cheeks in her small, delicate hands. She loves to play with my face. She may be the cause of my wrinkles now that I think of it.
5. She loves to dance and sing. The tune of the week is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” She is quite proficient at it! She has the tune down to so many different songs. She has the sweetest little voice. I could listen to her sing all day long. She can dance dance dance, just like Liam. It is their favorite pastime!
6. She is so delicate. So tiny and I think she is so fragile, but really, she is tough as nails. I mean tough. She takes constant spills in the yard, on grass and the sidewalk. She will run back to me with blood all over her pants and the mom in me panics thinking she will need stitches on her tiny little knee, but she sits patiently on the counter for me to clean her up. She doesn’t let anyone walk all over her either. She is my little dynamite.
7. She runs everywhere. She runs with such reckless abandon, like she is carefree, yet focused. I have never met a more determined little girl.
8. She copies everything her big brother does. Words and actions alike! She will try to do everything just like he does. In fact, he is her favorite person. If she wakes up before him in the morning or after nap time, she wants to wake him up. She loves to hug and kiss him! They get along beautifully and I am so blessed for that. I pray it stays that way forever!
9. She loves Liam more than anyone, but she also loves to get a rise out of him. If I hear “my mama, my dada” one more time I may lose it! She picks on him and it is seriously funny, because he tries so hard to explain to her that “we can share mama and daddy.” He gets quite frustrated when she responds with, “no! My mama, my dada!” She will also run up to him when he is playing so quietly and take something that is next to him or run right into him or his tower of toys. She wants to be the center of his world at all times!
10. She is so sneaky. She can sneak up on me and I honestly didn’t hear a thing. I don’t know how someone can be so quiet! She usually wakes up before Liam does, she really doesn’t need much sleep to function happily whereas Liam does! Since she is awake more often than he is, she has learned to play quietly on her own. I love to listen to her little voice as she talks to her toys in her bed. “Mama, get me out” is music to my ears, even at 7:30 some mornings!
I could write about both of my children all day long. I am obsessed with them, obviously. Again, like I said with Liam, they fascinate me, drive me batty, encourage me, and show me what unconditional love is every day. There is no bond like that of a mother and son, and no bond like that of a mother and daughter. Lucky for me, I get to fully experience both.
Children are a blessing. Children are an adventure.