Don't Call Me Mom

"Hey Mom, I'm gonna go upstairs and play in my room okay?  Okay!"

She had called me "mom" and  simultaneously asked/answered her own question within the same sentence.

All of a sudden she was fifteen.

Or, two-and-a-half.

Either way, she was growing up.

It's like that obligatory parent-moment when you blink and your chubby-thighed, squealing baby is a little person.  A little person who is smarter than her own good, making rational decisions, having opinions, bossing me around...

A little person who I want to stop.getting.bigger.

We have these moments now, me and my daughter - moments that I want to remember forever.  Like how she loves to sit on the kitchen counter when I'm cooking so she can help, or more like so she can take bites of anything and everything.

Or like how she loves to sing, totally uninhibited, at the top of her lungs.

Or like how she wants to talk to me, have real conversations, for the entire duration of any and every car ride.

And let's be real, my little girl was never a tiny newborn (see: 9lbs 14oz and yes, she came down the pipes)... But how did my baby grow up so fast?

I remember after she was born, everyone kept saying, "It goes by so fast!"  I mean, it was actually annoying how often people said that to me.  "Yeah yeah yeah, I know I know, take it all in, she'll be a teenager before I know it, yada yada yada."

But y'all...

They were right.

And it's so fun, having this person around the house now, rather than just a rolling, giggling baby.  A person who is a very vocal and opinionated part of our family.  And each stage brings more excitement and adventures and opportunities to learn and challenges and JOYS... 

Oh, the joys...

So I don't necessarily mind her growing up, I guess, because I look forward to how our relationship as mama and daughter will continue to bloom.  I just don't want to miss out on anything, miss out on any of these moments where I find myself falling even deeper in love with this perfectly imperfect little girl.

After that aforementioned "mom" moment, I sat CK down and held her hands and asked her to look at me in my eyes... which is what I do when I need to tell her something very important.

She got a serious look on her face, waiting to see what was gonna come out of my mouth.

"Cameron Kate, please don't call me 'mom.'  It's either mama or mommy, Ok?"

"Why?"  She curiously asked.

"Because, it makes you sound too grown up.  And I wish you could stay little forever.  So let's just stick with 'mommy' for now, okay?"

To which she replied, "OK MOM!!!"

And then she bounced down the hallway shouting at the top of her lungs,

"YITTLE FOREVER!  YITTLE FOREVER!  YITTLE FOREVER!"