Elsie's New Eye Glasses

20/70 vision is apparently really bad.

I took Elsie to the optometrist because she'd been having obvious depth perception issues; 

walking into walls, etc.

Sometimes she'd complain that her head hurt.

Sometimes her eyes would cross, 

so I made the appointment, 
and less than thirty seconds in was told, 

"Oh, wow, she definitely needs glasses."

I thought it'd be hard to get her to wear them- she's only three!

To encourage her to wear them I made her favorite toy monkey a little pair of glasses out of a purple pipe cleaner.

The morning that we went to pick up her glasses there were several elderly ladies also waiting.

Lillie provided plenty of entertainment for them, showing off her ballet moves from her recent Wizard of Oz performance. 

When the lady brought out Lillie's glasses and she put them on for the first time, there was a collective, audible "Awww!" as her eyes got big and her jaw literally dropped, seeing things clearly for the first time ever. 

I thought it would be hard to make her wear them, but she never wants to take them off. 

At night time I have to physically pull them off her face when it's time for bed!

If I ever get a tattoo...

If I were going to get a tattoo, this is what I'd get:

That red "C" on my forearm is like the international symbol of motherhood- 

the perfect imprint of a baby's ear where he's slept in his mother's arms for hours.

It's an emblem which spans all cultures and races in our maternal commonality;

Mommies hold babies, 

babies sleep in their mother's arms;

That red "C" is the best expression of the purest form of happiness I know. 

I want to wear it on my arm for so so so many days, 

but I know he'll be running around independently before I barely blink.

Letting me rock him to sleep will be the furthest thing from his mind.

If I ever decide to get a tattoo, that "C" will become permanent.

Elsie's almost four!

Why am I making a big deal about my daughter's fourth birthday?

All year long Elsie goes to birthday parties and always asks, 

"Can it be my birthday soon, please???" 

as if I had some kind of control over what day it is. 

Every time she sees balloons, she asks, "Is it close? Can we have a happy birthday party?" 

Every time we walk past the cake display in the grocery store she oohhhs and ahhhs over the confections and declares her favorite saying, 

"THAT is going to be my birthday cake!" 

(Last year she was going through a dinosaur phase and really loved the dinosaur cake in the cake book, but also really wanted a princess cake. This particular cake was called "Princesses in the Garden" but mine was "princesses in the Garden with Dinosaurs." 

Because she loves throwing "parties" for her My Little Ponies 

(who seem to be aging at break neck speed.)

Because ultimately I know it's kind of a waste of money for just one day, but these little kid birthdays are so few and fleeting. I feel like every time I blink she gets a little bigger and before I know it she'll be all grown up and those 300 year old ponies won't be strewn across my living room floor. These sweet early years are finite and I want to make them the happiest I possibly can for her. Someday it will take more than cake and balloons to make her happy, but today, they are the stuff of her dreams, so, for just a little while, I get to make her dreams come true.

Elsie at her third birthday party- just family and two friends.
 This year we're going a little bigger since we're not having it at the house.