Some dreams are better in real life

"In my best dreams, I dream about Pink Cinderella."

-Elsie

 This memory makes me all woozy and light-headed with motherly bliss. It's one of those vivid pieces of life I will hold onto.  I will try my hardest not to forget and I will keep this fanciful image in my pocket to recall on days where I'm in a funk, when life lets me down.  It was so endearing to watch this warm, heartfelt scene. I want to replay it over and over.

Elsie dreams in pink.  In her dreams she meets princesses also wearing pink dresses.  She told me stories of how she had been "dreaming of pink Cinderella." In her mind  the reason we were at Disneyworld was to pay homage to The Princess.

  When the princess saw Elsie, they both lit up like they'd seen an old friend.  Sleeping Beauty was as excited to see Elsie as Elsie was to see her.  Elsie ran to her, jumped in her arms and the princess gave her a goooood, looong, hug, the kind usually only reserved for family.  Sleeping Beauty pointed out that they had the same dress and Elsie pointed out the princess' picture on the front.  The princess said, "Wow! You look just like me! We look the same! Same hair, same dress!"
( If you look at the pics you'll see this is actually true, even the the same color of blue-ish eyes. )Most importantly, Elsie felt loved by the princess. She felt validated and reciprocally admired. 

 I couldn't have scripted this royal meet-up any better. The moment was simply perfect.

Having this baby was the best idea I've ever had

  She makes people feel adored, she laughs at every joke, she can always carve out time for friends, and she's always up for dancing.
 She's the perfect little sidekick. 

Liam

  I don't kiss my 6-year-old's head every time I walk past him (like I used to), just sometimes. He's getting big- he uses adult words like "recuperating" and "moderately" and no longer asks that I wipe away his tears. He wears ninja shirts, speaks French, and makes his own breakfast, but he still really loves his mother.

When I see these pictures I can see the same kid that carried around Peter Pan figurines and wanted to marry Ariel the Little Mermaid.  I am still smitten with him.

Today I spent hours playing with the kids in their room. I went along with whatever they scripted- I built a fort, pretended to be Cinderella, crawled around on the floor.   They let me in on their imaginary world and it was like I was one of them. It was a Jane Goodall moment.

 I took out my camera and snapped a few of these pictures while 'playing native'. The shots feel natural- a range of emotion with different faces and different moods depending on the type of play.