Milestones

Audrey found the bag of sequins in the craft box... I suppose the good news is that now my living room really does sparkle with an unearthly light. When she saw my jaw drop as I surveyed the state of my carpet, she said, "You - you frust-er-ated, Mom?"

"Yes," I told her, and sighed, "but mainly with myself."

Later that evening when I walked blithely out of my room in a bright pink pair of flannel pajamas (which I realize in retrospect employ the same color scheme as Sleeping Beauty's princess gown), Audrey's jaw dropped. "You - you getting married, Mom?" she asked, genuinely stupefied. "Is that... your... wedding dress?"

I looked down at the bright floral print; my hand came up to finger the silk ruffle around the collar.

"Oh," she went on, chopping her hands through the empty air, "I - I love your wedding dress!"

"Why, thank you!" I said.

"My mom is getting married!" shouted Audrey. "My mom is getting married!"

I think it would have been cruel to tell her that I already did.


As to Evangeline - yes, she is sitting up proudly, crawling backward, and ambling forward on all fours, but most importantly - she has proven herself to be utterly female by tasting her first bite of chocolate and loving it. Credit goes to Audrey, who positioned a blue M&M on the tip of Evie's tongue, without permission or aid, as every big sister should.

Can you guess what gave her away?

"Audrey," I said. "You are not allowed to feed baby sister anything unless you ask Mommy first. Why did you do it?"

"Be-cause," she said, "I - I sharing with her!"

It was a good enough reason.