A Bright New Blossom. . .

I’m looking at the picture of Jamie from two posts down as I write this. I have it as my computer desktop and I’m not even one of those moms that usually do that, you know the one’s that think their child will physically disappear from this universe if the picture of their grubby kid somehow doesn’t make the transfer to their new laptop? Well, maybe that’s just in my line of work. But anyway; there is something about that picture of Jamie and the way that moment of winter sun lights up her face that warms me more than any island picture that has ever graced my desktop. Maybe it’s the light, but just as likely it’s that halo of blonde curls, or those blue eyes that dance with the excitement of every new moment or that still-chubby neck that just begs for one of those honking mouth-fart things – a zerbert, I believe they’re called.

She is emerging as her own little person and everyday is like watching one of those high-speed films of a flower blooming. Even in this, one of our coldest, wettest winters in many years, our little hot-house of a home seems to be cultivating her new persona as she surprises us with new words and understandings and abilities on a daily basis. She now insists on carrying her dinner plate to the sink and her chubby-armed hook shot as she helps me load the laundry into the washer is a sight to behold. . . . if only the Trailblazers had such accuracy. Her rapidly expanding vocabulary isn’t so much a surprise (we are thrilled that she is finally emerging from the grunt and point stage that her ear infections left her in for so long), but the occasional clarity of a word can leave the rest of us speechless. The other day she dropped something and followed it up with a very clear, grown-up, “Oh man!”. We all looked around like, who said that? It was like coming home and finding out the dog had the ability make crème brulee. Surprising, but awesome.

But the best part of all these changes is watching the expanding relationship between her and Adam. He is now finding her more amusing than annoying and she in return is finding him more like someone she might hug rather than someone whose teeth she’d like to remove with her knuckles. They are learning to share and take turns and tolerate and as nice as this is to witness, it also scares the hell out me for cooperation is only one step away from conspiracy.