Cute story: Last night, I went to Annie's room to give her a hug goodnight (Ryan had put her to bed and she apparently "wanted Mom"). I picked her up and was hugging her and looked over her shoulder and saw a cute picture of her from Fall of 2005. She was just over a year old at the time and, maybe it was the fact that every time she hugs me back I'm amazed at how much love a little kid is capable of, maybe it was that it was the end of a very long day, I don't know. For some reason, anyway, I just got so emotional about how much she has grown up. I was telling her how much I loved her and my voice cracked (SHOCKER!) She pulled away and looked at me and asked, "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you sad?"
I said, "I am so happy for you to grow up, but I'm also sad for me. I don't want you to grow up! I want you to stay my little girl forever." She took my face in both of her hands and looked me directly in the eyes and said (in the most compassionate--almost dramatically so-- tone of voice) "Mom, it's okay, you don't need to be sad. If you really want me to, I'll change back into a baby again so you won't be sad." At that moment I was so touched by (1) her apparent unselfishness and (2) how sweet she was being when just moments ago, she had lost bedtime story, toy, AND bedtime song privileges all in the same night.
At the height of this tender Mom / Annie moment that was sooo sweet you could just hear the beautifully scored background music beginning to reach its climax, I asked: "You would do that for me?"
Music stops--kinda like when you turn the record off and it screeches to a halt. Annie looks at me (still with compassion in her eyes) and answers with a very succinct and matter-of-fact: "no."
