Bittersweet Symphony

There are so many milestones in life that you dream of for your kids.  You look at your little baby just learning to roll over and long for the day they will be running around playing.  When your baby starts to run around reality hits and you realize you'll never sit down again.  Staring at yoru little child cooing in your arms you want so badly to hear them talk and say "Mama".  Again reality hits when they are saying nothing but "Mama".

I recently had one of these bittersweet milestones with McKenzie around writing.  She loves to draw and write things and I spend countless hours spelling words for the many things she wants to write.  I have been longing for the day when she will get it and be spelling on her own, even dreaming up an iPhone app that would spell things for her.  It was a Saturday morning and I told her it was time for a shower.  She said she didn't want a shower and ran off.  I found her digging in my office for pens and told her to get moving to the shower.  She told me she had to do something and so I humored her. She then proceeded to hand me a folded piece of paper and told me to read it.  It was the first letter I've received from my daughter that she wrote all on her own.  She simply wrote "No" then signed her name.  Adorable but it led me to see the road ahead and to enjoy the participation in her writing efforts for now since all too soon she'll be off and running all on her own.