If I Could Count The Ways

If I could count the ways that I love you
it would be more than the stars
and I could never in a million years
count that far, and
If I could measure how amazing you are
it would take a million cups
and even still, all the water that could fill
would be a too much ocean for me to swim
If I could blow a dandylion for every time
you fill my heart with joy
the world would be over run
just as am I

Nothing Else

Nothing Else
is like this
I didn't know
until I met you
then that little
heartbeat
and those little
hands, those little feet
that wee body
laying next to me
listening and watching
nothing else
like this
a whole history
lies in front of me
my history, ours
and that of all
that came before us
nature and evolution
I hear in your
words that you
come to know
without me
even teaching
you are
a little world
onto yourself
and in you
I see
what a perfect
and beautiful world
we can be
as you blossom
and unfold
yourself
in such
an amazing
fashion
you
are
you
how
in
cred
i
ble!

Dear Juna, My Teenager

You were once my little baby
and I held you in my arms,
most of the time, even while you slept
your heart beat against mine,
I rocked you, sang to you,
walked, talked, fed, carried and clothed you,
and spent almost every single moment with you

You were once my little baby
and I held you in my arms,
then you were my little girl,
walking on your own,
my growing child, changing and growing
over all the years, now you are growing
into a young woman and soon to be out the door,
too soon, and my little baby no more

So for now, let me hold you and hug you,
let me hear your dreams and your fears,
let me know all about you
and the person you've become
share your laughter and your tears
because you were once my little baby
and I held you in my arms

Eighteen Months

You never cease to amaze me,
every day, in so many ways,
I am in awe of you, as you
grow, learn and change

My heart fills with warmth and gratitude
for all of these days that I have spent with you
every day since the one you were concieved,
and perhaps before that, while your little spirit
was waiting for me to be ready for you

Feeling now, that we will always be linked
makes me believe and think in an eternity
I wasn't sure existed before, that we
were always one, always two parts
of that same beating drum

Red Umbrella

Sitting under my grandmother's red umbrella
there are things that I wish I had told her
about myself, things about her, I'm sure she knew
maybe she knows everything now
because she still holds me in her arms
and I feel her every day, in so many
little ways, and there are things that I wish I knew
about her too, but the most important
is known.  I loved her and she loved me too.

Things We Do

Mother Goose Storytime/Toddler Time @ Local Libraries
Tiny Tykes @ Stephens Lee ($1.)
Mighty Mights @ Asheville Gymnastics ($5.)
Health Adventure (membership)
Asheville Art Museum & Colburn Rock Museum (free 1st Weds)
4th Trimester (membership/Hill St.)
Asheville Mall play area (food court)
Mountain Play Lodge ($6-10)
The Tree House ($7.)
Haywood Park Hotel/Grove Arcade (good for running around and exploring on rainy days)

Our favorite outdoor hangs, weather permitting:
Woodfin Park (Elk Mtn exit)
Weaver Park (Merrimon)
Carrier Park/French Broad Dog Park
Botanical Gardens
Clingman Cafe/River District Galleries
Downtown/Splashville (summer)
Arboretum (free on Tues)
Beaver Lake/Bird Sanctuary
The Nature Center

Elmo

How is it that my 17 month old is already asking for "Melmo"?