Some people are camera shy, but not my niece. She is camera rebellious. She is the most adorable human who has ever lived and does the cutest things you have ever seen, but most of the time she completely stops acting cute when a camera is pointed her way. Because she simply exudes cuteness, my family and I have been able to capture it on camera a few times, but it is rare. We have learned not to pull out the phone to record her, lest she stop doing whatever we are trying to capture.
I spent the whole day with her today, and, including the times she was napping and being a sassy toddler, there was not a single moment she was not being cute. We sang songs together ("The Wheels on the Bus", "Ring Around the Rosie" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" - and both did all the motions), played patty-cake, went for a walk, ran around inside and outside, read books, watched "Emmo" (Sesame Street), made silly faces at each other, had tickle fights, reminisced all our inside jokes, colored, practiced colors and letters, blew bubbles and played ball.
There were so many moments I wanted to capture her cuteness and silliness for the whole world to appreciate. I want everyone to see how wonderful and silly and smart she is. But I knew taking my phone out would end the moment. So instead I just remained in each moment with her, for as long as her attention span would keep us there.
A few times it was tempting to check the time, go over the details of the rest of the weekend, think about what was next. But she was fully present our moments, unaware of time or a schedule or anything next. So I tried to meet her there.
It's hard with little ones not to get bored in some of those moments. How long can a 20-month-old blow bubbles until they're bored of it? A long time. Playing with a baby is very repetitive, and there's not much conversation to accompany time together.
But what a good reminder that we can aim to be present in each moment of our lives, fully taking in the space and time and people around us. I don't have to think about what's next or check the time, and I will enjoy more if I instead check in 100% to whatever I'm currently doing. I can give someone else my full attention and meet them in the moment we're sharing.
My niece has no choice right now but to be fully present in her moments, but I am thankful for the reminder of what a gift that can be.
So thank you for being silly with me, lovey. Thank you for running in for a hug when I come over to play and for laughing at our jokes and for gushing your cuteness all over my life. You're a stinker pot, and I wish you would let me take more pictures and videos of you to remember all these cute things you do (your giggle, your dancing, when you make that face at me like I'm crazy and you have no idea what I'm talking about, when you tell someone to "ssshhh") and cute words you say ("gampa", "namma", "pees stah" (please stop?), "opry" (how you say your name), "omagah" (oh my gosh?), "ishta" (we have no idea), "boo" (the only color anything is right now) and all your babbly-singing) and smart ways you impress me (spelling your name, recognizing letters, pointing to the correct thing when we ask you to). But for now I will do my best to be content simply existing in and enjoying each moment with you. Thank you for the reminder, baby, and I'm so glad for every moment we get to embrace together.
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