Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Mama Elle





We brought home a few treasures from my mom's house last week.  Her rocking chair from when she was a little girl and my great aunt's baby doll.  When my great uncle passed away, it was found in his basement.  The whole family met at his farm in Idaho to "auction" off who wanted what.  We were each given a certain amount of tickets and could use them to "buy" what things meant the most to us.  When I saw that little doll, I knew exactly what I would save all of my tickets for.  I was single at the time and just kept it at my mom's house.  This past trip I rediscovered it and knew that Elle would just love her.  We have been home for almost two weeks now and Elle has not let this little dolly out of her sight.  She sits with her in her carseat, next to her at the dinner table and most importantly snuggles right next to her each night in her bed.  Elle has named her Samantha.  As I was taking these pictures I was talking to Elle about her little dolly.  I asked her, "where did you get this little baby"?  I was expecting to hear from Grammy's house but that was not the case.  Elle looked at me and said, "Mama, she came from my tummy".  Oh of course, how silly of me to question that!  In fact, as I was talking with her, she stopped mid sentence and walked over to the couch.  I told Elle that I wanted to take just a few more pictures and she said, "but mama, I need to change Samantha's diaper".   It is so sweet to see her "mother".  I hear her whispering to her little dolls and stuffed animals and gently kissing them.  She carries our dog Tiger around in a baby blanket and pushes him in her dolly stroller.  The nurturing gene is extra strong in this little one.  I hold Elle like a baby sometimes even though she is getting too big for it.  I tell her that she can't grow-up anymore and has to be my baby forever.   She always reminds me that she HAS to grow-up.  The other night I was telling her this again and rocking her and she said, "mama, I HAVE to grow-up but I promise even when I am a mommy when I visit you, you can still hold me like a baby".  I don't know if she will want me to hold her like a baby when she is a mommy, but one thing I do know is that she will someday be an amazing one.