It's officially Fall in Kansas City. I was driving back from a friend's house and I caught a whiff of the evidence... the smell of falling leaves. I don't know how to describe it because it's more than a smell. It's more of a taste in your mouth. A longing for warm apple pie bitting the tails of a crisp wind.
Now some of you are still melting in unbearable heat or humidity. Here, however, thanks to Hurricane Whatever-Her-Name-Was and Hurricane Ike, we who are residing in Tornado Ally are getting a reprieve from Summer. It went from a high of 91 to 59 degrees in 12 hours. This drastic change brought on new challenges for this first-time mom. Emme, who is growing out of cloths faster than I can find new ones for her, was suddenly in a clothing crisis. We went from diapers and bibs (because it was just too hot) to needing multiple layers of cloths. The need, however, made me smile and chuckle to myself. The reason for this response? Much to the dismay of some (yes, I know that you are out there!), I am sentimental about some things and one of those is a particular orange outfit that I've been holding on to since 2003.
You see, in 2003, my husband (then boyfriend of less than a year) bought a cute little sweater and hat that only Ecuadorians can claim as 'native'. He bought it, and I've held on to it. Yes, almost 5 years later, and much to the chuckle and chagrin of some who know my distain for most things girly and sentimental, I kept it, and I LOVE it! I'm so glad that I picked a few things that I deemed sacred and holy to have for Em. I know she, like I did, will look back at this picture of her in this Aunt Kate-inspired color palate with her "smiley" eyes and become completely exasperated, but I think that this is a once-in-a-lifetime look for my nearly 4 month old. So while we'll probably never land ourselves on the cover of Mother-Daughter Scrap-bookers Weekly, we, no doubt, will laugh at my descent, for a few moments, into the realm of 'cutesy', 'girly' and 'sentimental'.
Few things in life are as important to children as their bath-time toys. My grammie had a mechanical frog, Mr. Fribby, and it was so much fun... yes, I still remember the frog's name. With a trusty rubber duck (thanks to Grams) Em is now officially no longer a bystander at bath time. She is a participant, engaged in the activity of getting clean and soaking the rest of us. So, as her mother mourns the quite, placid process that was (because it will no longer be strictly functional), Emme is wonderfully enjoying her new best friends... to be added to the list of best friends: Gustav, Gina and Gabe (the giraffes in her crib's mobile) as well as Kermit from her bouncy seat. So many friends, so little time to talk!
