freeze...don't move!...

As you can tell by my recent posts, I'm amazed by the way that my little girl adds a new skill to her bag of tricks on a regular basis. Yesterday, Jamie and I undertook a massive spring cleaning (you can not imagine just how badly it was needed), and we were fretting that her presence would slow us down. Alas, all of the babysitters on our long list of family members were busy...how dare they not be at our beck and call?

I plopped the bugger down on the floor, padded her with three pillows, gave her an enormous pile of toys, turned on the TV, and that held her over for a good half hour to hour. When I moved on to the bedroom, I stuck her on the bed with her toys, turned on the ceiling fan, and again, totally content. This little transition between being stuck on her back and crawling gives me the best of both worlds. Can play with toys, but can't move anywhere. Once she can crawl, cleaning won't be quite as easy! We'll need to schedule family members way in advance.

With all of this new cuteness coming at us, we feel like we need to capture these moments, but that's easier said then done. Something happens, and you think, man I wish I had the camera. By the time you grab it, she's moved on to doing something else. Or, if you do get the camera in time, she finds the camera so interesting that she starts reaching for it. That is NOT what you wanted to snap. A few pictures with her little fingers in the way are cute, but I can't have an album full of blurry hands.

I'm jealous of shows like "John and Kate Plus 8". Let's be clear...I'm the kind of woman that thinks I'd be ok with one child and by no means wants more then 2, so 8 children is not something I'm envious of. What I mean is that they have a professional video diary of their children. The cameras capture so much and so many cute moments for them. Things they say, things they do, etc. While I would hate having cameras in my face all day (particularly when I'm in my PJs with my hair a wreck and no bra on), I'd be able to look back at a time stamped film showing me when she first walked or talked or whatever.

All I can do is make a valiant attempt at capturing the moments that I'll want to see at a later date. I keep the camera on an end table just in case I need to reach for it. For any other moments, I'll have to take it in and do my darnedest to see it in my head. I have no doubt that while many images will disappear over time, those that are truly moving will be ingrained in there forever. Of course, I'll be adding more and more...hopefully the mental graduation pictures won't crowd out the mental infant photos. I need to exercise my memory. Pass the Ginko and the Nintendo DS Brain Games...I have some mind muscle to flex!