on growing...

{see the rainbow??}

one of her favorite things to do right now is to go explore our yard, {iPod}camera in hand, running in later with a big smile on her face, itching to share special images she's captured.

and one of my favorite things to do right now is to go explore our yard with her, traipsing from bush to tree to plant to flower, crouching down to get just the right angle, catching the perfect sun-flare, capturing images, and sharing them with each other.

she taunts me, teases me..."oh! i just got the best shot! mom, it's gonna be so much better than yours!" 

genetics run strong with this one...my competitive streak goes through and through.

and i love every minute of it...every second of it.

i'm learning to grab time with her where i can, when i can.

and i love that she's developing her own interests.

one of the first steps in wing-spreading, yes?

i'm trying to nurture that more and more...the developing of her own, individual interests.
today, it meant an impromptu stop at the library.
and i let her go in without me.

that was huge.
do you remember the first time your mom let you go in somewhere without her?...all on your own?
how you felt like you had to walk straighter and taller just so people would realize how "totally okay" it was for you to be alone?
how you just knew that you looked...like...at least thirteen! like, totally!

she walked out with a Lego book {large enough to double as a doorstop}, a biography about Bess Brennan--Founder of The Perkins School for the Blind, two Hawkeye Collins mystery books, a superhero movie, and a cartoon movie for her two little sisters.
her tastes are nothing if not diverse.

i'm loving this stage.
some people love the infant stage...the chubby thighs, the murmured coos, the dimpled fists.
some love the toddler stage...the first tottering steps, the first halting words, the first bumps and bruises.
some love early childhood...the bright kindergarten days, the floaties in the swimming pool, the gap from the missing front teeth.

me?
i'm loving this stage.
the girl-getting-to-know-herself stage.
she's figuring out what she likes...what she prefers...what books she reads...what she likes to do.

and for now...for today, at least...that includes running haphazardly around our yard, shooting pictures of the peonies and the snowballs and the apple blossoms...
with me.

i love that.

{{and this.  i love this.  this is her photo.  taken all by herself.  

edited completely on her own...no guidance, steering, or help whatsoever.  

i'm kind of in love with it.}}