So that I don't forget

You how if you have little kids, everybody always tells you to write down the cute stuff they do, to date the backs of all of your photos, to record every adorable phrase they utter so that you don't forget?  Because you'll blink and they'll be going off to college?  Well, it's 7 a.m. and I'm sitting on the bathroom floor in our hotel so that I don't wake Todd because yesterday I felt it.  I felt the magic.  The "we're doing good, we're living life right, we're a great little family" magic that comes when you have a truly wonderful day, and I *so so* don't want to ever forget it.  I want the memories from yesterday locked up safe and sound so that I can pull them out whenever my day is not so perfect and wrap them tight around me.  And I want to tell them to Allie because, even though she's apparently off to prom tomorrow, she might not remember today.

See, we've had a couple of WEEKENDS lately where family stuff has required us to drag Allie around and leave her with Nana and Papa for awhile.  So, even though mommy is nursing a super stuffy nose and both mommy and daddy were pretty tired, we packed up the car and headed to the aquarium, which since Allie has not been to Disneyworld yet, is pretty much her happiest place on Earth.

It started that morning, when I realized how grown up she is becoming and oh.my.gosh.I.am.not.ready.for.that.  She picked out her own shirt.  I held up three and she reconized that one of them had Beauty and the Beast on it.  It won by a landslide.  She pointed to Belle all.day.long.  To the lady who checked in our stroller at the aquarium, to random strangers in the aquarium.  She was super proud of that little shirt.  And I realized, that is NOT something babies do...that is something little GIRLS do.  I did NOT okay this getting all big, stuff people.

And at the aquarium, she walked around.  Like a big girl.  In her Belle tee and her jeans and her sneakers.  I think from now on, I'm only dressing her in onesies.  And clothes with bears on her bottom.  Look at this big girl.  She was in awe of the shark tank.  She stood there for about five minutes, and then started sobbing.  I think she forgot she wasn't actually IN the shark tank because as soon as I pulled her down from there, she was fine.  But look at her face.  How long will she be in total wonder of something as simple as the shark tank.  This was when I realized this day was something special...a little big of magic.

And we were happy.  We didn't think about real life or work or deadlines.  We thought about frogs and how in the world did two not so huge animal people (sorry!) end up with a little girl who channels Dr. Doolittle through her very soul?  The girl is in LOVE with amphibians...and reptiles...and sharks...and fish...and birds...and don't get me started on dogs and cats...

And we poured all of our energy into being together, enjoying each other's company, and lovin on each other.  (Um, look at Allie cuddling her daddy...it is so cute that I don't even know what to do).  And it was good, people, it was so, so good.  It makes my heart full to see those two together.

And all day, a quiet voice in my head told me not to miss a second of it, capture it all, date it, write it down, because gosh darn it, look at how big and beautiful you baby has become.  I mean, seriously, only a very big girl could teach her daddy so very much about jellyfish.  (She's saying, "And look, Daddy, him is made of grape jelly, and that one is made of strawberry."  At least that is what I imagine she was saying.)

Other highlights of the day:  Allie tried to feed goldfish crackers through the glass to the sharks.  I mean, come one, that's funny stuff.  Also, Peanut fell in LOVE with the octupus.  In LOVE.  Would not leave.  Had to be carried away.  Tried to climb through the glass to hug on him.  When were done, we went to Tom and Chee for dinner.  Which is not sentimental or nostalgic, just delicious.  Allie, of course, decided she HATED grilled cheese and would only eat bananas.  Which she now does the baby sign for...but it looks suspiciously the same as when she does the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  So, now I'm not sure if she wants mommy to sing or peel nannners for her when she does it.  Hmmm.

So there it is, recorded forever and ever.  And now when I am old and grey, I will remember that my beautiful daughter was at one time a scruffy little peanut, who thought that her mommy and daddy were super cool for taking her to see the fishies.