Ordinary Afters...

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday gathering, originally hosted by Jane, now by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it photographic or writerly in form, from around the world. Come see the world’s corner view via the links on the sidebar!

Hello friends! It’s been far too long and I figured I best just jump back in!

These days most of my reading is snuck in throughout the day. No more leisurely chapters read in bed, or the bathtub or in the backseat of the car. Now my reading is more non-traditional in format, audio-CDs in the car while I’m driving, online with blogs and websites whether they are parenting, photography, cooking or Down syndrome/disability awareness, audio-stories from the library while I run. I’ve always been a book lover, but with three small children running underfoot- their books are about all we get to these days that involve any actual page turning. What I most frequently look forward to browsing with a cup of coffee are Huffington Post parenting articles. I find myself nodding along with the stories of other people’s lives. Although even with all the saturation in technology, I still find myself happily buying actual books that are recommended or I’ve really enjoyed electronically. Still nothing beats the happy weight of an actual book in your hands. Especially cookbooks. Lord knows you can find almost any recipe on the internet nowadays and food blogs are some of my favorites- but often I just have to have the hardcopy in my pantry.

…where a brave and beautiful bunch gather every week to find out what comes out when we all spend five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing ‘em over here.

Go:

“Nooooooooooo!!!!” She sits herself up and looks me square in the eye while shoving away my offering. I close my eyes silently wondering how to respond. It’s been a week now that she has slept clear through the night. No more waking to nurse. This is good. This is necessary. She was ready and so was I. And besides, we still have our regular evening intervals of comfort. She’s still my baby. At 20 months.

Make that 21.

“Do you want to just go to bed?” I scoot up to the head of the bed and pick up her rabbit lovey with its worn, soft blue fleece middle and floppy brown ears. Again she screams at me and tries to lay herself back down. “Naa-neh. Momma. Help.”

Nursing a toddler. A very strong-willed toddler. She toddles daily now between independence and reliance. We all do. We all watch her as she moves through these next steps. Trying to see where she leads. Trying to follow her lead.

I lay back down and roll over to reach for her and again she shoves me away. Something is just not exactly right. She’s particular now. Her little mind ever expanding at a literally mind-blowing speed. Her perfect rosebud of a mouth working hard to keep up.

Her cries of “Naa-neh” morph into “Narney”. Barney. The beloved purple dinosaur that her and the Quail agree is the bee’s knees. I pull him out of her pack-n-play along with the two Aden & Anais gauzies and the purple fleece that she routinely sleeps with. Pulling them to her face she reaches over to her Dad who has come in during this scene and pats his arm, settles back and latches on.

For now.

For not much longer I see.

Stop.