Toddler Love
Let me tell you about my daughter. She is almost a year and a half and so far at the peak of her girlie cuteness - at least as far as I can tell, because if this increases I will be an unfit parent. Due to my complete and blinding infatuation with her funny talking and the smell of her pajamas and her little feet and the two curls twirling away from her ears.... Oh it is impossible to be a responsible and rational mother. Maybe some people find babies are so easy and fun because they sleep all the time and are so cuddly, but I am not so convinced. The first months I was struggling with this mother thing. Everything was constant, it was like pregnancy on the outside, only more like a fulltime job than a fat state of being. The baby was just taking and I was just giving... but now! Now I am being paid back! I get little wet kisses randomly during the day. I get hugs and some soft pats on my face. I get cute byebye-waves and happy "mama!"-greetings. I don't even know how to describe it.
Her mannerisms are increasingly girly, so girly that even I don't know how she became that way. All the jewelry in the world is not enough, neither are the purses. Oh, one can always have one more purse! Then there are the dresses and the coy little gestures paired with flirty winking and pretty little smiles. The other day she found some glossy shopping bags I had folded up and immediately she took 2 or 3 and started parading around the house with them. There she is with her long necklaces, her purse and 3 shopping bags! How much estrogen can a 23-lbs-body hold?
I find myself being so happy all day long just watching her. I am expecting something awful to spoil this fun because it's just too pretty! It's all so pretty and so sweet and so irresistible and since on some level I know things will have to get serious at some point I am determined to indulge in these moments to teh fullest. I am so completely in love. When I go to bed and wait to fall asleep I pass the time remembering all the sweet little things she does. She is my favorite subject, my favorite entertainment. I want to go and buy her the world, all the purses and all the hair adorments there are. There is nothing that will match her sweetness. She can pull of a pair of jeans with a gap sweater like no other! If you could bottle the "essence of Veronika" you could make millions, millions!
I don't know what this sounds like to you. Maybe if you have a daughter you know what I'm talking about. Maybe not. I don't know about other kids, I just know about the one ruling my life right now. Part of this is also a slight feeling of relief - to experience the sunny side of parenting, just the bliss without the sting of sleepless nights and daily frustration. On the other hand maybe I just got the best kid and that's why! Ha! There goes a thing you thought you'd never say...
Posted at 01:34 PM on January 12, 2005
Your daughter is quite lovely. I've only been reading this since last March I think and it's nice to see the transition you've gone through raising your daughter. I am not a mother but you seem like you are doing a great job, not that my opinion matters.
Dinka, I am not a mother as you know, but I have got a niece, Anna (4), and a nephew, Alexander (about 2), and I can imagine your feelings at least a little bit. I am privileged because I can spend quite a lot of time with Anna and Alexander. And there are those great moments, yes! Being the Mum must be a lot more intense! I know it is no question of advantage and disadvantage, but as an aunt I probably just have the great and cute moments. On very few occasions this can be a comfort for "non-mothers".
Ingrid
With this post you could convince anybody to become a parent, I'm sure! You really touched me, I wish you all the best for your motherhood!
Dinka, what a sweet, sweet post. It really cured me of the annoyance that's been lingering for a couple weeks since I saw someone post online that frustrating comment, "Oh, I would definitely rather have boys than girls, any day!" Of course, people who say these things have only boys, or don't have children at all. I won't rant on it and let that spoil the happiness I got from your post. Veronika is such a sweet pretty little girl, and I wish you the best raising her. God bless.
Dinka: "I am expecting something awful to spoil this fun because it's just too pretty! ..."
Now you talk like my wife, Sanja, did some time ago. But it seems she's got over it. Time will prove you wrong.
Dinka: "Maybe if you have a daughter you know what I'm talking about. Maybe not."
Sure we do. But you'll get over that, too. Just kidding.
These moments, the rememberance of that essence, the rememberance of the fact that it is always somewhere in there, will probably one day become very important as a ground base for your relationship. Especially when she begins "getting into trouble" ... Just kidding?