My daughter's bday

Anna is sixteen today and I didn't get to spend the day with her. Snif. She was sniffing too this morning as she and the family prepared to go on a camping trip in northern Michigan. Her great friend (they are all the best) Maggers got sick and couldn't go with. I felt so bad for them both. If you ever saw mom's with puppy dog eyes then that would describe Sandy and I as we expressed our saddness for them both. Major bummer.

I am staying home with little Stefanopolis as he is the eczema baby. I can't imagine juggling his skin issues up there in a tent, not to mention the cold. So I went out to breakfast with a dear friend and her little guy, had an appt for Stefan to get his picture taken (we have to go back), worked around the house and yard and then........went to dear, cute friends for dinner......then went to a neighbors for a glass of wine and a donation to Anna's sewing craze. Phew. It has been a busy day.

If Anna were home I would probably have made a trip to the fabric store with her and taken her to lunch. In light of her disappointment perhaps I will when she gets home. We did have a party for her on Sunday but it always seems her actual bday gets messed up somehow.

I have also been thinking about when she was a baby as I look at little Stefan and know that my 5 ft 7 daughter used to be a tini-tiny baby. She was the sweetest of babies. She slept well, had big curious brown eyes and she was absolutely beautiful. When she graduated to the walker (yes, we used one of those dangerous things), if she heard the water running in the tub she would come a running in her walker to see if it was bath time. She never liked to be carried facing in but always wanted to be facing out to see the world. She was and is the apple of her father's eye whether she realizes it or not.

At age four I remember her cutting out everything from her coloring books and repasting them on paper. The most remarkable cutting feat was when she got a Disney toy with a little tag on it that had a picture of Tinker Bell on it. She cut that tiny little picture out perfectly! I should have known what was coming.

Yes, she cried, whined and was scared of talking to anybody but she was pretty content at home, loved her grandparents and of course her little brother Ick Ick or Baby Nice ("Be nice to the baby Anna."). I can't get that back but I am sure I will be wanting to call her on the phone everyday just like my mom does to me. So.......I miss my daughter and I miss my family but clearly I am keeping busy and my social calendar is full.