helping each other

On the weekends, as I’m trying to get my chores done, baby girl comes along to help. She sits nicely and takes out every diaper that mommy just put in to the bin. But I like it. I tell her "good job!" as she tries to mimic what I'm doing in the cutest, most innocent, clumsy way. I wasn't tasting them, so I'm not sure where she got that from. :)

Sometimes I tell her '”no” firmly.

She pauses.

Then does this.

We help her in many (many, many, many) ways all day long. Hello lounge chair, human jungle gym, butt wiper, do-er of all things at the same time with baby in tow. Her daddy lights her up when mommy is making her do the not-so-fun stuff like diaper changing, getting dressed, or getting her face washed. He comes up and makes goofy faces and her whiny cry turns into a little laugh. It’s just adorable.

She helps her mommy and daddy learn new patience, ways of doing things, and how to work together. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have that other ‘teammate’ with you when caring for our sweet girl. There’s something about having that person right there that always knows where to stand, how to read your odd hand signs, and knows the silent language that makes the magic work. Funny how quickly each of us understands from each other signs for bottle, rocking, bink, close the door, turn on the fan, fill the humidifier etc. etc. etc. He steps in when my eardrum can’t handle another scream, and I step in when a little tumble needs mama’s hugs only.

I had to hold up the front and the rear this weekend while daddy finished up his final exam (YAY, DADDY!). While hard, it made me appreciate and savor the good thing that we’ve got going by always being there to back each other up. Single mamas, military mamas, working hubby mamas, hell- even stay-at-home mamas- YOU ROCK. That’s some hard work there.

AND ALL COMPLETELY WORTH IT BECAUSE I GET TO SNIFF, BITE, AND KISS MY LITTLE CHUNKY LOVE EVERYDAY.



Shadow-chasing is a legitimate activity that takes tons of concentration.



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Photography nerds: This was my first attempt at shooting backlit and exposing for the face. I like the glowy light that I got behind her. Any tips for shooting backlit? It's a nice result, just hard to get the right settings.