"If you don't see the book on the shelf, write it." ~ Beverly Cleary
It didn’t matter that it was raining or that it was long past bed time. What mattered was that her sister would push her to the top of the hill and then help launch her at full-speed towards the bottom. She only ran into the bird bath and garden once….other than that, totally worth the skipped bath and late bed time. Fearless Little Danger Cat our Audrey Bell.
I want to remember Audrey at this age for so many reasons. She is curious, smart, helpful, stubborn, loving, and brave. She’s the reason that we keep the toilet paper out of reach and I’m pretty sure someday she’s going to try to cut her own hair. When we’re at the park, she finds the highest point to climb and shimmies on up. Last week when we were at the beach and the park, she spent time both taste-testing the sand and climbing to the top slide. When it was time to go, she refused to follow us and instead went on the slide one more time. I wasn’t quick enough to get her and she ended up having one more turn…while we were getting in the car, Maggie said she wished that she was Audrey because Audrey was ‘lucky’ to get to go again. Oi.
I’m a gigantic sucker for sentimental imges, especially ones that show change over time. I can say that it got worse when Maggie was born and I started taking the chair pictures for her monthly picture. It was captivating how much changed from month to month, not just with her, but with the lighting and even memories about where I was personally. 
Tonight when Maggie was flinging around a pair of jammies on her head (I’d asked her to take them off because she’s be too hot…I told her she’d melt and she told me, matter of factly, “mama, people don’t melt” with huge eyes. No, Maggie, no, they don’t) an image of 2 month old Maggie popped into my head. At the time that was exactly what she looked like, with the huge eyes, tiny nose and chubby cheeks.
And today’s picture still has round cheeks, a small nose and huge eyes. Still such a little girl…who likes to hear that, even though she’s growing (“not too fast, Mama”), she’ll always be my first baby. Indeed, she will.
Because a post these days really woudn’t be a post without Little Sissy popping in, I thought I’d share how they both brush their teeth.
Paging, Danger Cat!!
