shoes

Goodness, being a mom is so fun, so exhilarating, so mesmerizing.  The other night after a long day we settled into the living room to unwind, and I just sat marveling as I watched Allie play.  Every week I see changes and growth in her.  Her communication has exploded and she's becoming more independent.  And I can see her little wheels turning more as she plays.  That night she was ever-so-precisely placing her mega blocks onto the ottoman one by one, arranging them as she went.  She was so proud of herself.  And ohhh, her obsession with shoes you guys.  She lovvves putting on shoes.  Her shoes.  My shoes.  Luke's shoes.  I'm sure if we ran across a stray one on the street she'd try to put it on.  Tuesday evening I headed off to Bible study a little worried for Luke's sanity because Allie had been super fussy (the joys of teething) and they still had a good two hours to go before bedtime.  When I got home later that night I asked how it went.  He said at first he didn't know what to do to make her happy until she discovered a box of shoes I'd put near the door to take to storage because she has outgrown them.  She took all the shoes out and tried them on.  Luke helped her with each one and helped her see they were all too small.  Then when they finished with those they went to her room and got out all her current shoes from her closet and she tried on all of those.  He said in those moments she was perfectly happy!  She's a shoe girl for sure!

The other day at the park she wrapped her hand around my finger as we walked down the path and it made me think of a quote I saw: "And then my soul saw you and it kind of went, 'Oh, there you are.  I've been looking for you.'"  When she wraps her hand around my finger, when she giggles at our antics, when she gives me a big, slobbery kiss, I know without a doubt we were meant to find her, and she us.  She's a part of me.  And not just a part, but the very inner depths of me.

Oh Allie, how we love you!