My Girl

I was pretty much in a Pampers commercial this morning.  The Boy Badgers were with Daddy on their way to a karate lesson and the store, and Baby Badger and I needed to get dressed and look beautiful for our day.  I should mention that Baby looked beautiful anyway.  Even with oatmeal in her hair, and some snot in her nose; even with a fading bite bruise on her cheek, and a full diaper, she looked luminous.  I knew this, of course, being completely objective, but was so struck by it as we looked at each other in the mirror as I was brushing her teeth.  She made me feel so humble to be holding her.

After brushing her teeth and cleaning her face, hair, and nose, I took care of her diaper and dressed her in pink overalls with a white long-sleeved onesie.  This, after liberally applying baby lotion.  I left her little feet bare, as she's been wearing shoes and socks everyday and I love baby feet more than pretty much anything.  She's dressed and ready, and now it's my turn.  Getting dressed while a solo 15-month-old is loose in the house can be problematic.  When her brothers are here, I can get up to three minutes by myself to throw some water on my face and put some clothes on as they distract each other.  But by herself, she's in acquisition-mode.  Acquire and destroy.  So, I didn't have much hope as I walked into my bedroom, ready to throw on the first pair of jeans I saw and to try, try to do a pass over my face with a baby wipe.  But, to my astonishment, she followed me happily, gazing up at me and smiling.

I washed my face.  I brushed my teeth.  She watched and smiled, and even pretended to spit when I did.  She did not try to dive into the toilet, or pull all the trash out of the wastebasket, or apply my makeup to the toilet brush.  I was surprised, but pleasantly so.  She stood and looked up at me as I put my lotion on my face, so I put some on her rosy cheeks.  She giggled when I put on some cologne, so I rubbed the tiniest bit on her little wrist.  She pursed her lips when I put on my lip gloss, so I added just a touch on her lower lip.  It was the fun, tasty kind, so she, of course, licked it right off.  She pointed at my earrings as I put them on, and, unless I imagined it, nodded her approval of my outfit.  She grinned at me and me at her.

If we were in a Lifetime movie or a Pampers commercial, you would be crying your eyes out as soft music played in the background.  My little daughter and I had our first, kinda grown-up, mommy-girl moment.  After my shoes were on, the spell was broken.  She ran into the living room and chased the cat with a Christmas bell.  She demanded milk, and then her nap.  And I, still in the daze of being a big ol' softie Mommy, had to run right downstairs and write about it.  About my precious little girl, and how significant 15 minutes on a Saturday morning can be.