Where are you going, my little one?

Photography: Joshua Ford, Ford Photography

My mom used to sing to me the lullaby, "Turn Around," when I was little. If you're not familiar, I'll leave it to you to Google the lyrics (and then get weepy), but this song keeps running through my head these days when I look at Elaine. She is wobbling along that very fine line between "little girl" and just "girl," weaving from one side to the other, not quite sure where she wants to be. And it's magical and heartrending and all-around wonderfully bittersweet. I find myself awestruck at this small human we've created and are raising. And I'm drinking in every cuddle, bedtime story, hair wash, piggyback, handhold, butterfly kiss that I can before one-by-one she outgrows them. And yet, even as I try to hold tight to these moments, I can't deny the flicker of excitement to discover who she'll become in this next year and the year after and the years after that. Because I think she's going to be someone pretty remarkable.