Welcome

To those of you who have been gently suggesting, forcefully nudging, or bludgeoningly berating me for this... you're welcome.

To anyone else who may have stumbled on this blog, you're Welcome :o)

In a matter of days, my daughter will be turning 5, and if the years to come are anything like the years that have been, we are in for a ride.  She is a "one and done," off-spring of two working professionals in the entertainment industry.  An old soul with a tremendous facility for language, and a wicked sense of humor, she has astonished me with the things that come out of her mouth (and mind) since she was first able to communicate.

At 18-months of age, she received a turtle night light that projected stars on the walls and ceiling.  She turned it on and off and on and off and on, stepped back, looked around and said, "Wow..." Throwing both arms in the air, and slapping them on her thighs, she added, "Amazing!"  Just shy of her 2nd birthday, playing with HAMLET finger puppets, I held up Hamlet and said, "Who is this?"  Nancy said, "Hammet!" I asked, "And what does Hamlet say?" and she replied, "To be-ah-to be."  I placed Hamlet and Ophelia on my fingers and Hamlet told Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery!"  Nancy said, "Nooo!," yanked Hamlet from my finger, and threw him across the room.  Two months into preschool at age 3, she could write her name on her own.  On November 19, 2011, I recounted this exchange in a Facebook status:  Mommy: "Nancy, can you write your name on this paper for me?" Nancy: "No thanks, Mommy. There are no "N"s in this pen."

This past winter was Nancy's first in Chicago, and she experienced it bundled in a bright pink coat with a neck frill, which is iconic now in the family photos.  It always made it particularly priceless when she would, while wearing said coat, get something pink, and say, with genuine amazement, "How did you know pink was my favorite color?"    

Her other identifying accessory is Buhbuh.  Buhbuh is a doll, which Nancy will be quick to correct you is ACTUALLY a love bug, that was given to her at birth by her grandma.  Her attachment to it is mighty, and Buhbuh is now a doll only its mother could love.  Thread-bare, Buhbuh has doll clothes pants sewn on over her legs to contain the breach in her... breeches.  Buhbuh has already had a complete stuffing transfusion, now sporting fluff we pilfered from an unsuspecting Build-a-Bear.  The varnish on her plastic face has been rubbed, resulting in the embarrassing appearance of blackface.  But Buhbuh is FAMILY.  Part best buddy, part pillow, and part scapegoat... About 6 months ago, we're walking to the bus for school, and she starts singing a song she is making up as we go:  "My Mommy is the most beautiful and she is smart, too..." Mommy: "Aw, Nance! I like that song!" Nancy: "It wasn't me. That was Buhbuh singing..." Mommy: "Who is Buhbuh's Mommy?" Nancy: "I am."

In addition to clear verbal skills, she is an already gifted artist and avid photographer, so we are very fortunate to see the world from her perspective so clearly.  And I hope you will enjoy seeing it through her eyes, too.  Because, let me tell you, it is a joyful thing.  At the beginning of this year, donning her pink coat, Nancy was waving as we were waiting for the bus at the cars passing by.  She wasn't getting any return waves, and dejectedly, she said to me, "Mommy, no one is waving at me.  I think they don't like me..."  I said, "No, honey...  Sweetie, sometimes, grown-ups forget their joy, like little kids have.  But maybe, if they see you wave, it will give them some of that joy back, so you should just keep waving."  And she did.  While we waited.  And from her seat on the bus.  And finally, someone noticed her and smiled.  Nancy said, "Mommy!!  That man has joy in his heart!  He smiled-ed at me!"

May our little SheNANCYgans put joy in your heart and a smile on your face.

 (Daddy, Nancy, Mommy and Buhbuh on a sunshiny day, under Nancy and Buhbuh-shaped clouds)