SJ finds a lot of uses for her yoga mat other than actually for yoga. I seem to pick up toys and animals and papers and trash every moment of every day. In this particular moment, she begged me not to put up the yoga mat because she needed it for her nap. It was going to serve as a sleeping bag for her and her snuggle toys.
And, yes, she did in fact take her nap right there.
Jeremy and I went to Sarasota for the weekend, and Grammy and Grandpa kept Selah June. I don’t know that she’ll be scaring away any bears with those little hands as long as she has that beautiful face.
I think they went shopping, and she ended up with a new necklace to wear with her veil headband.
May 2019
My relationship with Selah June is coming into its own, and it is not like many mother-daughter relationships of which I know. She is a jokester ALL the time. And I rarely miss out on an opportunity to share in a good laugh. We love to hang out together. It doesn’t really matter what we are doing. Things are generally easy going unless we’re tired or hangry.
She isn’t much in the mood for a bath most days, but she loves to get dolled up. Whether in a dress or shorts and a t-shirt, she always needs to wear her “heels” (gold flats with jewels) or her Jo Jo Seewaw high tops (that light up and have sparkles).
If you could bottle up her joy, it would sell as the fountain of youth. Four is pretty awesome. I’m trying to drink it up as much as I can.
The best time of the year for Floridians to enjoy the beach is April/May and September/October. School isn’t out for most kids, and the sun isn’t at full bake mode. The water is temperate, so the kids can swim and play, and the afternoon rain showers aren’t as frequent.
My Facebook feed knows that I like the beach in May. Often my memories pop up revealing that on the same day last year or five years ago I was doing the same beach therapy. The shell collection, the footprints in the sand, the artsy sun through beach umbrella shots, and the worn out post-beach/post-McDonalds sleepers on the drive home are all constants. A marvelous Groundhog’s Day I would love to live weekly as opposed to monthly or even yearly.
My baby is growing up. She needs me less and less at the beach. She can walk from the car to the water’s edge. She can go potty on her own, preferring privacy in her own stall. She can play at the water’s edge without holding my hand or tugging at my swimsuit. She wants to spray the sunscreen herself, only letting me rub it in for even application. She even helps carry things back and forth to the car.
She takes her own babies to the beach now – burying them in the sand and pretending to teach them to swim.
With a sun-kissed golden glow on her little face, I see the future. She will be a beautiful sun goddess, full of life and love for the beach. Hopefully she will still want me with her on the May pilgrimage to the ocean.