Moments

When she crawls rapidly to me while I sit at the computer and pulls herself up and lays her head gently on my knee. She was doing it to let me know she had pooped and needed cleaned up, but still a touching gesture.

When she fell down and thunked her head and let my Dad pick her up and comfort her and she laid her head down and nestled into that spot right between chest and shoulder. Especially poignant since I can recall being very small and snuggling up in exactly the same manner.

When she nurses herself so serenely to sleep with her eyes closed and her whole head bobs gently with contentment.

When she looks directly at me and says "Mama". Sometimes she's not even crying when she says it.

When she's so very tired that in the middle of crawling across the floor she stops and lays her head down as if she just cannot proceed one more step. Equally enjoyable to watch her pop her head back up and continue on her way as if that was indeed exactly the refreshment she required.

When I notice that her eyelashes are now almost a full half inch long. They weren't there at all when she was born.

When I follow behind her and pretend to chase her and it induces belly laughs so intense she has to squeal.

When I hold one of the other children on my lap and she attempts to push them off with all her wee might to assert what she feels is her rightful position.

When she's about to fall asleep and her arm floats out so slowly and gently it's as if she's moving it underwater, and she rests her hand on me, fingers splayed like a tiny starfish, as if to assure herself I'm still there in the seconds before she slips into unconsciousness.

When she smiles and I can see her Parents and Grandparents and Great-Grandparents smiling at me through her face as well as the ghosts of past faces her brother and sister wore.

Past, Present, and Future in one precious face.