A Day of Breuklyn

This girl makes me happy.

Sometimes when I look at her, I still see this little girl. How did we go from Dora bicycles to digital cameras so quickly?

When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she instantly responded, "A camera. A real camera. And a day with just mommy." Who could say no to that?

10AM: Eat pancakes the size of our heads. Did I mention that the pancakes were covered in blackberries. Swoon. Breuklyn said that she needed to text Aunt Murray. "Can I have a cell phone for my 8th birthday?" she wanted to know. Don't hold your breath, dear one.

11AM: Positively flouncing Maddux at checkers. Maddux, bless his 80-year-old man heart, is the most pathetic checker-loser on the face of the planet. Did you notice that he is not in this picture? Well, I did. That is because there are tears streaming down his face and he is chanting, "Do NOT jump my guy. Do NOT jump my guy" over and over and over and over. It wasn't pretty.

12:30PM: Painting pottery.

I love the polka dots that she she carefully added to the inside of her cup. I also love that the colors she chose to paint with exactly matched what she was wearing.

2:00PM: Chai. Strawberry Gelato. Skip-Bo. Could there be a better combination?

I would just like to point out that this face is genetic. There are collections of pictures that have me making this face. Classy. Indeed.

The local coffee shop was the perfect place to find a quiet table upstairs and play Skip-Bo. It was pouring rain outside and we were happy and content.

Breuklyn is not my chatty child. She takes her time when it comes to communication. She will wait days and days to tell me about something important that happened. Maddux can't wait 5 seconds to tell you what he is thinking about, but Breuklyn is not like that. Breuklyn will think a situation over and decide how she feels about it and then, when she is ready, she will talk. My biggest problem (biggest fear?) is that I am not always instantly available when she is ready to talk and the moment will pass. This was a day to hear her. Really listen to what she had to say. And I learned a lot.

3:15PM: Library.

We read chapters of The Boxcar Children while huddled in a quiet corner. She read one page and then I would read the next.

Just one day. 7 blissful hours. A day to reconnect.

Sometimes, it is hard to remember the days when it was just the two of us. Brad would work 12-14 hour days and Breuklyn and I would stay in our tiny apartment all day. This picture was taken just days before Maddux was born. 2 years old. She was our little family. And we, Brad and I, thought everything she said was hysterical and every thought she had was genius. She has always been insightful, sensitive to the feelings of others and funny. Oh so funny. And she has always been loved loved loved.

Thank you, Breuklyn. For being you. And being mine.