couldn't be more proud

Last weekend we attended a birthday brunch for Katie Michelmore, one of my best friends, and one of Ada's favorite none blood related aunties. We don't often get a chance to dress up these days so I seized the opportunity to put Ada in a dress. She looked beautiful. So girly and pretty. I often forget how pretty she is when she is covered in a collection of mud, ketchup, and cheerio crumbs, but last Sunday she was down right stunning. Well as stunning as a 1 year-old can be.



She fussed with the dress a little when we first put it on, but then seemed to get used to it. All through brunch she even managed to keep the dress clean, but the dress could not hide the little adventurer that Ada is becoming. After we finished eating, Ada and her cousin Taylor took off and found a crate of oranges to play in, but to get to that crate they had to navigate down a small set of stairs. If you can be pro in stair climbing, Taylor would be a top tier pro while Ada would still be struggling in the minor leagues, waiting for her big break. So Taylor cruised down the stairs and Ada, anxious to follow, wanted to hurry. But she also remembered her tumble down the stairs at Eric's house so she turned around to scoot down backwards. This would be fine under normal circumstances but since she was in her pretty dress she was presented with a whole new set of challenges as her dress kept getting caught on the step just above her little body. The first few times the dress snagged she grumpily stopped her descent to grab the dress and put it back over her belly. Finally after doing this routine three steps in a row she stood up, throwing caution to the wind (giving Mommy a heart attack), balled up her dress and tried to stuff it between her legs. You could almost see her little brain churning, thinking, I'll show this dress who is boss. At that moment I realized just how much of my daughter she is, and Beta, I couldn't have been more proud.

she really loves me

We recently took a trip to Las Vegas for a hockey tournament. Elliot ended up flying out the day after our caravan drove out so Ada and I had a nice casual morning together at the hotel. She was sleeping in the same room as me so when she woke up she was able to just stand up in her pack-n-play and see me, awake, but still in bed. So instead of starting to cry, she started to giggle which of course enticed me to go over and pick her up. However I was still tired so we just crawled back into my bed. This hasn't worked in about 3 months but I thought I'd give it a try, and to my surprise she actually agreed to hang out and play with me. Ada has also really started to show that she understands what we are saying to her, which makes life with a semi-non talker so much easier.

So while we were enjoying our morning, lounging in our Vegas hotel room I asked Ada for a kiss. A fairly common request but usually one that is either ignored, or fulfilled with a blown kiss or a smoosh of her face into mine but no real kiss. Well this time Ada had a treat in store for me. She leaned forward and gave me a real kiss on my left cheek, paused, and then began to smoother me in kisses all over my face and neck. After 17 months of loving unconditionally, this sudden outburst of affection melted my heart and really made me realize the rewards of all of the sacrifices that Elliot and I have made since our crazy decision to throw caution to the wind and make a baby. And then it dawned on me. I smother Ada with kisses on an almost daily basis. So it wasn't so much affection but learned behavior. I have learned that if I try to over analyze Ada's actions they tend to lose their initial coolness, so I immediately put that in the back of my mind. Because that feeling. The one when she was showering me with kisses. That was easily in my top five all time most amazing parenting moments so far. And that, I will treasure for years to come.

easiest drop off ever

Whenever I drop Ada off at daycare she completly melts down. Not a simple bit of clinging to my leg, or trying to get me to play with her. Nope. She screams bloody murder as I walk out of the room. Her teachers like to point out that she only does this when I drop her off, not when Elliot does. In fact they have even gone so far as to ask who would be dropping her off the next day so they can mentally prepare for her meltdown if need be. I could choose to think that she is just trying to make my life difficult, but deep down I know it is because when she rides to daycare with just me she has this secret little hope that maybe, just maybe, this is the day that I ditch work and hang out with just her. That would be the coolest thing in the whole world. Well today we had a very tight morning. We dropped Elliot off at work in LaJolla, I had to get Ada to daycare, and into work by 9 AM for a meeting. Shouldn't have been a problem if we left on time but that doesn't seem to be in the cards these days so it was pretty tight and I think Ada sensed that. On the way to daycare she was so well behaved I almost thought she had fallen asleep, and then when got to daycare she secretly pledged to not melt down on me. She even walked into her classroom by herself so I didn't have to strain myself under her pixie weight. When we got to her room I braced myself for the death grip on my legs, the tears, the wailing, the urgent demands of "up, up". But they never came. Ada's little gift to Mommy today was the easiest drop off ever. She walked into her room, looked up at me, smiled, and then walked into the room like she owned it. She didn't just want to let me off easy, she wanted me to feel Ok about it too. Still in a bit of awe I staggered to the sign-in table, filled out her paperwork, put her lunch in the cabinet, kissed her goodbye (still no crying or reaching out), and walked out the door happy that I have a well adjusted little girl who is confident and comfortable. Either that, or she really wanted to get rid of me so she could start flirting with all of the boys in her new classroom.