Banana had some serious big girl pants on Monday night. She helped me unload the dishwasher. She put food in the grocery cart. She dictated which songs to sing while we shopped. She pointed to a picture of a boy so she could show me his facial features. She tried so hard to say ears, nose, teeth, and chin. She took the food out of the cart and put it on the checkout belt. She negotiated bedtime on the drive home. She invented a game of running away from me while I tried to change her clothes. She laughed until she couldn’t stand. She knew why it was funny. I loved every moment. And part of me hated it.

Hannah seems to go through developmental growth spurts, the last one starting a few weeks ago. Suddenly she decided that she wants to walk more or, if she’d being held, she wants to help carry stuff for you. She picks up new signs immediately but also tries to speak the words. She wants to get herself dressed and undressed. She crawls onto the couch with a book and reads to herself. It’s truly amazing to see her put pieces of the world together, to watch her try her darnedest to be solve a problem, to see the recognition in her eyes when she answers a question. Her little voice chirps ‘yeah’ or ‘no’ but is full of certainty. Again, I love it and hate it. We wait patiently for these milestones and then she bangs them all out at once, preventing us from savoring each one individually.

I always had an image in my mind of the relationship with my future daughter – my sidekick and little helper. I lost focus of this picture briefly after Hannah’s birth but each day she showed me that she’s the girl of my dreams. All these big kid skills she’s been learning lately were preparation for the moment my sidekick was officially ready to take her place. As we walked up to our house after a long day of work and daycare, my little blue-eyed, fair-haired darling held her hand out for mine, giggling as she stomped up the steps. And I walked beside her beaming with pride.