Later in the afternoon Mark took me out to a coffee place... and one thing you have taught us about going out is to go to a busy place so you can "people watch". So we went to the coffee place that's inside the big bookstore in the mall - always busy and so much to see, hear and smell there for you. After a while you got a bit unsettled, so you and I took a stoll through the bookstore, inevitably ending up in the children's book section. And there I learned that you are quite capable of making decisions of what you do and don't like (I just need to be present in the moment to listen). Just for fun I showed you a book about colours which completely caught your attention. After we put it back and kept strolling, I showed you a few other books (including another colour book I thought was way cuter than the first one), but none of them really seemed to interest you too much. Later on I decided to show you the book again, and again you were captivated by it... so buying you a copy was an easy choice and you are "reading" it with great interest.You are teaching me that you are your own person, ever so small still, but nevertheless a person with opinions, feelings and the power to make her own choices. Be it choosing when it's the right time to roll over for the first time (thank you for having such perfect timing!!), or be it choosing what books you like. It's my job to protect you, to nurture and love you, but it's also my job to give you the freedom to be yourself so that you can grow up to become a person who makes her choices with confidence and knows that her opinion matters.
