Dear Lydia,

Dear Lydia,
My darling girl. Today was such a wonderful day with you. Your daddy had to work late, but he stayed home and played with you all morning long. This afternoon we went and visited your Aunt Jenna because Grandma and Grandpa Walker had come to her house for a visit. You begged to go play on the playground outside of the house and we spend quite a while playing together. You'd tell me to "take cover" from the wind and we'd duck under the platform, then we'd race around and go down the slide together. You wanted to swing and asked me to push you higher and higher. When I asked if you could get your toes higher than the building by us, you squinted your eyes and flipped your legs up each time you reached the top, like you were just giving the last bit of effort to make them go high enough.

Sometimes when your daddy and I go on dates, we go to the movie theater. You always ask if someday you could go to the movie theater, too. I've been watching for a while to find a good movie for us to go to together and decided that today would be a great day to go. (The Good Dinosaur was playing.) You were so excited. You filled a bright green lunchbox with a handful of treats that you collected for the "thee-add-d-der", and carried it the whole way inside. You picked out a sucker and a fruit snack (but they were out of fruit snacks so you got an airhead instead) and seemed so happy to be at such an exciting place.

We watched the movie and you alternated sitting in the chair next to me and standing on the ground with your face resting on the chairs in front of you, absolutely entranced with what was happening on the screen. There were a few scary parts, and you squeaked "mom!" and let me hold your hand while we watched together. (I was holding Austin on my lap, or I'm sure I would have pulled you to me, as much of a comfort for me as for you!) When the movie was over, we walked to the very front of the theater and looked at the screen and talked about how big the "tv" was.

We got home just in time for bed, and you convinced me to read four books instead of the three that I had agreed to earlier. (One book before I put Austin to bed, one book after he was in bed, and an extra book. But then, of course, another extra book.) I laid with you for a few minutes and asked you about your favorite part of the day, which was ... the movie.

Tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I kept thinking about you and how big you are getting. I kept thinking about running around with you on the playground and watching you squish your face into the seats in front of you, so happy to be at the movie theater. I wish I could capture those moments with something like a photograph, that would capture the way you make my heart fill up with happiness. I'm not always the best mom, and half the time I feel like I'm just making things up as we go, but somehow you are turning out to be the kindest, most wonderful little girl I could ever imagine. Watching you grow is the best gift I could ever have. I love you so much.

Your mom, always.