aunt's birthday, cousin's room
I went to my aunt's birthday party last night and got to see the big extended family with Josie for, like, the second time ever or something? It was fun, she played with the balloons and the second cousins and loved the cupcakes.
At one point she signed to nurse, so I took her back to my cousin's room. My cousin is about 14. I remember visiting her mom in the hospital when she was born, and she's a teenager now, yup. Her room was all cleaned up for the party, her dolls and stuffed animals were lined up on the high shelves. There were softball medals hung up in one corner, bags and purses in another. There was a bookcase full of books, including a nice edition of Lord of the Rings and half a shelf dedicated to the Twilight series. A glass dolphin hung from the ceiling fan chain. The old floral wallpaper contrasted with the modern crafts and wall art hung up over it.
Josie immediately decided she did not want to nurse; she made a beeline for a shoebox full of nail polish bottles under the nightstand. She was amazed and obsessed by it. For 30 minutes she was taking the bottles out of the box, holding them, putting some back, licking a few (I won't lie), then taking others out. Pink, red, burgundy, glittery, glow in the dark... there had to have been 20 tiny bottles in there. I haven't seen her that entranced by anything ever. More people came in to visit with us, and she pretty much kept going back to that nail polish all night.
When I was little, one of my aunts was 10 years older than me and I thought she was the coolest person in the world, and loved her room. It had a poster of the band Heart, a green ceramic cat, who knows what else... it was just unbelievably stylish to me. So it kinda brought me back to see my one-year-old obsessed with her cousin's nail polish. It's like we're hard-wired to admire everything about big kids, or something. It also reminded me that some day Josie will really be 14, and will probably have a similar collection of her own, because I did. I don't think I own a bottle of nail polish now, I go get the occasional pedicure but fingernails? Not since my wedding, I guess. But when I was in middle school I was always painting my nails, when my fingertips stuck out from the long sleeves of my jacket I thought I was fabulous. Outside in the other room they were singing happy birthday to my aunt. Josie will be 14 someday, I will be 50 someday, Josie will be 50 someday. I hoped that all our lives could have the same privileged triteness that lets you have a shoebox full of colorful nail polish bottles.
At one point she signed to nurse, so I took her back to my cousin's room. My cousin is about 14. I remember visiting her mom in the hospital when she was born, and she's a teenager now, yup. Her room was all cleaned up for the party, her dolls and stuffed animals were lined up on the high shelves. There were softball medals hung up in one corner, bags and purses in another. There was a bookcase full of books, including a nice edition of Lord of the Rings and half a shelf dedicated to the Twilight series. A glass dolphin hung from the ceiling fan chain. The old floral wallpaper contrasted with the modern crafts and wall art hung up over it.
Josie immediately decided she did not want to nurse; she made a beeline for a shoebox full of nail polish bottles under the nightstand. She was amazed and obsessed by it. For 30 minutes she was taking the bottles out of the box, holding them, putting some back, licking a few (I won't lie), then taking others out. Pink, red, burgundy, glittery, glow in the dark... there had to have been 20 tiny bottles in there. I haven't seen her that entranced by anything ever. More people came in to visit with us, and she pretty much kept going back to that nail polish all night.
When I was little, one of my aunts was 10 years older than me and I thought she was the coolest person in the world, and loved her room. It had a poster of the band Heart, a green ceramic cat, who knows what else... it was just unbelievably stylish to me. So it kinda brought me back to see my one-year-old obsessed with her cousin's nail polish. It's like we're hard-wired to admire everything about big kids, or something. It also reminded me that some day Josie will really be 14, and will probably have a similar collection of her own, because I did. I don't think I own a bottle of nail polish now, I go get the occasional pedicure but fingernails? Not since my wedding, I guess. But when I was in middle school I was always painting my nails, when my fingertips stuck out from the long sleeves of my jacket I thought I was fabulous. Outside in the other room they were singing happy birthday to my aunt. Josie will be 14 someday, I will be 50 someday, Josie will be 50 someday. I hoped that all our lives could have the same privileged triteness that lets you have a shoebox full of colorful nail polish bottles.