Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, this 2014. Week 18.
Somewhere between weeks 18 and 19, our Dawn & Rain turned 18 months old. It was a milestone for a couple of reasons: 1) We’re half-way through their 2nd year; 2) Their size 18-24m dresses will now start to fit (I know, big deal right?); 3) As per BabyCenter, at 18 months they’re officially toddlers; 4) They’re growing healthy and beautifully; 5) God has supplied all their needs from day one, and we couldn’t be any more blessed than that.
When they turned half-a-year old, we had a little cupcake party in church. I felt the need to do something extra-special for their 18th month too, except I didn’t see this day coming until less than 24 hours before April 24. Without enough time to prepare for a small get-together, we decided to have our little party to ourselves, which, it turned out, was even more perfect.
We bought a cake and some supplies, DIY-ed a cake-topper, stringed together some cut-out buntings and designed them with gold letters and patterns. Yes, excited mommy got carried away.
And the best part—time to eat the cake!
We watched them as they inspected the pink cake in front of them, maybe wondering what to do with it. Dawn was first to dig her hand in, playing with the bright pink icing with one hand. And then she started licking the pink gooey thing off her finger tips. Realizing that it tasted good, she took a handful of the cake and shoved it in her mouth. Haha. Rain followed her lead and my husband and I were laughing so hard watching the girls enjoy their cake and make a mess.
And then their Daddy joined the party,
..and this is the part where I totally lost it!
Watching them from behind the camera, I wasn’t sure if I would roll over laughing or cry buckets of joyful tears. It was such a happy day! And looking at these photographs now is making me happy, so I guess it makes today a happy day too.
There were other heart-melting moments I failed to capture, like when Rain tried to shove some cake inside her Daddy’s mouth, or when Dawn excitedly hugged his Daddy with icing all over her body. At that point I already put away the camera and was trying my best to keep the mess (read: bright pink icing and chocolate cake crumbs) in one place.
Sometimes I wonder if these childhood memories we’re trying to make for the girls are more for us than for them. I want to remember these moments forever. And I want them to know that these days happened. This is the reason why I keep taking photographs and documenting memories as much as I can. I know that someday, their only recollection of this day will be the photographs we took and the stories that accompanied each frame.
I hope that when that day comes, Dawn and Rain will know how happy our lives have been because of them.
More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here.
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