Day-Day Tales...

There are certain moments that hold a special place in my memory since becoming a mom. It's so fun to see your child happy, and it's even more fun to see the little gears of their mind just turning away...

I remember the first time Sassy became thrilled with a toy. She was probably around 6 months old, and we were on one of our many trips to Target. I usually made it a point to show her a new baby toy or two when we perused the baby aisle, picking up those necessities that sent us on frequent trips to Target- diapers, wipes, rice cereal...

I casually grabbed a little Leapfrog frog on a baby ring, and showed it to Sassy. She looked at it like she did every other toy... so what, mom? I pressed the frogs belly, and he started counting to ten in a sing-songy voice. She immediately lit up. Her feet were a-kicking. Her arms were waving in the air. She thought it was the greatest thing she had ever seen.

I let her keep it in the cart as we continued our shopping, having no intention to purchase the thing. She was so amused throughout the entire shopping trip, I decided it was completely worth the $8.99 price tag. Oh, and how could I possibly pass up something that could make her exude smiles and gleefully coo on demand?

Sassy played with that frog day in and day out. She loved him up and down. She wanted to take him everywhere! We later ended up buying the girl version as well- she sang the ABC's. She was never as big a hit as her male counterpart.

Another of my favorite moments with Sassy happened in Michael's. We were shopping with my friend, Dana, for her daughter's birthday party. Sassy was right around 11 months old. We were walking up and down the aisles, and Sassy was getting a bit restless, so I grabbed a little plastic dinosaur figurine to hold. As soon as I gave it to her, she let out a huge R-O-A-R.

I whipped my head around and looked at her with amazement. Did she really just do that? I almost didn't believe it, but then I gave in, feeding into her new-found discovery. "Yes, yes... a dinosaur says roar," I told her. We couldn't wait until Daddy came home from work to show him what she had learned. Again and again, she delighted in making dinosaur commands, and was equally as thrilled with the praise she received from two very proud parents!

All these fond memories came flooding back to the forefront of my mind after a trip to Target last week. We were making our usual trek down the toy aisles at the end of our trip; a reward for good behavior on the girls part. We rounded the corner to head down the aisle with all of the dolls and doll equipment.

Just as the dolls come into focus, Little A starts squealing and saying day day, day day, day day! "Baby?" I asked her. Day day, day day, she said. I picked up a box with a Little Mommy soft baby doll in it, and handed it over. As soon as I did, Little A cried Day day! and starting giving the baby kisses. It was the cutest.thing.EVER, not to mention the first time I had seen her consciously label something other than mama, dada, her name for sister, and other bath and food related words.

She was so excited to hold and kiss this baby doll. Needless to say, it was as good as hers the moment she began her little display. Ever since, she has been faithfully caring for her day day, and I am loving every bit of it!