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Alice at One Year by Sharon deLaubenfels   |
Wispy-soft brown hair, big, dark eyes...innocent...perpetually in awe of everything. Watching...watching Mommy fix dinner, Daddy load the dishwasher. She leans forward in her stroller on a walk with Mom, shrieking with delight when she spots a puppy trotting alongside a baby, in a stroller. Gliding high in the baby swing at the park, luminous smile, hair flying; she turns in her swing to watch the L-train rattle nearby every five minutes. Watching...watching the children play in the park. Scampering behind the older children at her first birthday party, on the verge of walking; crawling suits her now. She points her graceful and delicate finger at each of her breakfast foods: baby yogurt, Cheerios, bananas, and milk when she wants more. "That," she says until the right food is picked. Delicious profile, silky-soft face snuggling against Mommy's or Daddy's shoulder. Nursing at Mommy's breast, a quiet and sacred time. Alice sleeping in her crib in her nursery, an exceptional and sweet cocoon. Petite and dainty at 16 pounds... charming everyone she meets. She radiates; she takes my breath away... Alice at one year. |
