Thursday, March 23, 2017

Looking Forward, Not Back

Every day I get a "Moment Garden" email, that shows me pictures and videos of Grace from exactly 6 months ago today and exactly one year ago today.  When this picture was sent today in my Moment Garden from one year ago, it just slightly broke my heart.


March 2016

How can I simultaneously be head over heels in love with my current toddler, and yet mourn actual tears for this baby who she once was?  This sweet sweet innocent baby who I just love with my whole heart.

My mind has already erased the hard parts of that time of life, one year ago exactly.  She was almost 4 months old, and she was sleeping for no longer than 2 hours at a time at night (3 if we were lucky).  Which meant she woke up at 10pm, midnight, 2am, 4am and then I had to get up for work by 6. I was working in a complete zombie state, and missing her every moment of every work day.  She got her first cold after only one week of daycare.





March 2017
That time of life was exhausting, and yet I ache to hold her as a baby just one more time.  I cannot believe how fleeting that year of her life went by.  How did each day seem to feel so long, and yet I blinked and and a whole year was gone?

So right now, I want to look forward.  Instead of mourning the passage of time, I want to celebrate it.  She will become a little girl and then a big girl, and there are so many good things to look forward to for that. So, I made a list of some of my favorite childhood experiences that I can't wait for her to have.  

What I'm Looking Forward To:

- sledding down Vet's hill, cross country skiing in Eberwhite Woods, or downhill skiing somewhere Up North Michigan, and then coming indoors with frozen cheeks, to warm up with a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows

- discovering new books, characters, series, and enjoy reading them together

- pulling Grace in a wagon

- jumping on a trampoline for hours on end

- making friends, being excited to see them, making up silly dances together, having inside jokes, exploring outdoors with them.

- lots and lots of cousin time!

- going camping, waking up outdoors, and sitting on a picnic table eating blueberry pancakes made on a travel grill 

- Capture the Flag.  This game was so thrilling for me as a kid, whether it was gym class, or summer camp, or around the neighborhood. 

- blueberry picking, strawberry picking, apple picking!  She already loves fruit, so I know she'll love picking it fresh.

- Camp Michigania!  It it one of my most favorite childhood experiences, and someday I would love for Grace to go there.

- being on a sport team, practicing and working hard, and experiencing what it's like to win with that team

- Mackinac Island

Then, there's some childhood experiences that I didn't exactly have, but I can't wait for her to have one day:

- Disney World!  (I went at age 2 and age 16.  I think Grace would appreciate it more sometime between ages 3 - 10).

- The American Girl store in Chicago.

- Ludington! The beach, House of Flavors, going on a boat on Hamlin Lake, watching the fireworks and then walking home to Grandma and Grandpa's house

- Taking mother/daughter/grandmother vacations

- Visiting her Uncle Brian and Aunt Vidhya in Chicago

- Being a big sister.  I don't know if this will ever happen for Grace, but if someday it did, I just know she would be a wonderful big sister.

I'm sure there are much more.  So, when I get my daily e-mails showing me what my sweet baby looked like one year ago, I'm going to think about this list and all the things I want to do with her. I cannot wait to see the little human she is going to become.

No comments:

Post a Comment