Little Days (17 Months Old)

Felicity is 17 months old today.

I keep having the thought "Ben did not do this" and then wondering if maybe he did and I just don't remember well. I want to remember these days better.

I want to remember the way she sidles into my lap when I am not paying attention, so that suddenly my arms are full of her and she is doing whatever activity I am doing (this happens most frequently when I am playing something with Ben, like Lego).

I want to remember how much fun it is to have her try to say new words. She screeches as she tries to push her shopping cart over the lip of the tile, and I say "do you need help? Can you say "help please?"" and she says something that is vaguely but definitely like help please.

I want to remember how she says yes by a cacophony of laughter or a strange half nod movement of her head.

I want to remember her giggle. And what random things can make it come out.

I want to remember the sight of Benjamin leaning over to gently kiss her cheek in the bath.

I want to remember her walking around with a book pretending to read in a song of sounds.

I want to remember the feeling of her falling asleep in my arms as I rock her quietly in her room. And how she sometime hums and sings herself to sleep.

I want to remember her crazy legs, and that we call her "Crazy Legs" as a nickname because the little excited shuffle foot stomping she does.

I want to remember the curls of her hair and the softness of her cheeks and the deliciousness of her skin.

And how she tries to brush her own hair. And my hair.

And how, when she is in a clingy mood, and I try to put her down, she hangs off me like a monkey and uses her little feet to climb her legs back onto my hip.

And how she sits and waits on her little stool when she wants cheese-its.

And how she likes to look out windows.

And how she tries to crawl away from me, across the bed, when I am trying to get her dressed, and its a game to her and she giggles and laughs as I pull her back.

And how she tries to life her little foot up in the air to point at her sock or shoe.

And how she always picks the blue markers when she colors.

I will do my best to soak it all up.