Dear Allie,
Today is our last day before Lauren returns. You woke up around 6:15. I changed your diaper. We played upstairs. While upstairs, we read some books and you drew some pictures – you’re drawing mostly in blue and green these days because those are the colors that you like, and because they’re the colors that I give you from the box of crayons.
For breakfast, you had an Eggo waffle, a couple of strawberries, and a piece of Poly-o string cheese. You ate most of it, and when you were done, you were very polite about finishing – “Done!” After breakfast, we changed you into clothes and went for a wagon ride. We went down to the end of the neighborhood, did a couple of streets and came home. No dogs today, just a few sprinklers. We did a load of sheets. You like to see the water flow into the washing machine – “See, See, See!” When we later moved them to the dryer, I put them on the door and you pushed them in – “Push!”
Next, we looked at some pictures posted by family members (Jeff, Dixon and Opa) on Facebook. We skipped photos of Lauren because I didn’t want you to miss her too much. I think you’ve got Jeff’s name down pretty well – “Yeff” – but we’ll see if it sticks.
We went to Big Spring Park around 10:30 and we fed the ducks and geese. You’re an expert at “duck” and “quack,” and you’re getting better at “geese.” “Honk” is still a little out of reach.
Then we went to lunch at Nuke’s. We sat at our usual table, you had your usual grilled cheese, and we got a small container of a half-dozen bread and butter pickles. What made lunch special was that you were completely happy. You smiled at me with perfect contentedness. I really enjoyed that moment, and decided I wanted to record it for you here.
We drove home after lunch and you took a three hour nap. Following the nap, we spent the evening at Clint and Leah Johnson’s with Frank, Mandy and Amara Cohee.
You’ve been getting much better at counting. Today, for the first time, you made your way to ten.
Later, when we got home and I carried you upstairs to bed, you gave me the second best hug you’ve ever given me. The best was after I returned from two weeks of business travel. This hug was almost as good. You rested your head on my shoulder and you patted my back and said “Dada, Allie night, night.”
Today was my favorite day of our time together, and I’m going to miss it.
