Ten

My daughter's 10th birthday is today.  How the heck did that happen?  I swear we just came home from the hospital.  I'm pretty sure all I did was blink once and ten years flew by.  Can I go back in time to when she was a baby and stare at her a little more?

I would like to see her first smile again.  Her toothless grin between two enormous cheeks.  She was a chunky baby.  Really chunky.  Perfectly chunky.  I would like to watch her wobble down the edge of my Mom's driveway and behead all the daisies.  I think that's the first thing she did when she started walking.  I want to see the little baby I had fall asleep in my arms again.  I want to watch her little stretches she'd do in her sleep.  She slept a LOT.  She was the best baby. 

Yes, reliving her babyhood would be nice.  I miss it a lot, but now I have this wonderful little girl who is almost too old to be called little.  She's brilliant, funny, sweet, and has the perfect amount of freckles on her little nose and cheeks.  She's a voracious reader and doesn't like it when she doesn't have homework.  She's compassionate and generous.  She's got the best laugh in the whole world.  She's the best kid.

   

So, happy birthday, Grace.  You're always going to be my baby.