Just Pear-fect

This is going to be a really sappy blog and I ummed and ahhed about whether to write it or not, but I'm going to because (for me) it felt like a really big deal that needs to be noted. So please feel free to skip it if you're not in the mood for full blown sentimentality...

On Tuesday afternoon this week it was really, really hot. Molly and I have discovered that our kitchen floor is the best and coolest place to be on days like this, so that's where we were.

She spotted the fruit bowl and asked for an apple, we didn't have any, but the Ya pears look pretty appley so I guessed she meant one of those. I cut it in half and sat down with her to eat it. After a couple of minutes of munching in silence, she looked over at me and said yum, I agreed, hmmm tasty. She copied me 'yes tasty' she said, and then started giggling as some juice ran down her chin. With her little hand resting on my leg she grinned and babbled away incoherently for a minute or two, finishing up with an hmmm? so I said yes, they are the best pears in the world. She nodded her agreement.

I asked her what she'd like to do next and she said ' go to beach' and got up to go and get her sandals. I suggested we finish our pears first, she said OK and sat back down, hand back in my lap, smile.

OK, so now I've written it down it all sounds pretty mundane and so-so, but that night I sat down and thought, wow, this afternoon I had a conversation with my daughter, all be it a very simple one, but still a proper conversation. I felt both elated and heartbroken, she's not my baby anymore. Before I know it she'll be all grown up, which is really exciting, but there's a tiny bit of me that wants to hang on to her 'babyhood' for as long as possible and tell her to slow down so we can really enjoy this amazing stage of development that she's in right now.

I was also reminded of my good friend (at work, all those eons ago), coming off the phone one day with a big goofy grin on her face and tears in her eyes. She told me she'd just had a conversation with her son - who was then about Molly's age now - he'd been playing rugby with Daddy in the garden, and it suddenly hit her (as it did me) that he was growing up so fast. So, I know I'm not unique in feeling like this - which is reassuring, otherwise I'd think I was being a total freak!

My beautiful baby is fast becoming my beautiful little girl. As you can from the pic, cute hat eh?