Saturday, January 22, 2011

sometimes why you do something hits you in the face when you are not expecting it


we go to sanibel every year.
we go to the golf club for insanely delicious seafood feasts every year.
three and a half years ago i started chronicling my-slash-our lives daily through photographs.
and by extension, i have inadvertantly caught my little girl growing up before my eyes.

today when i was processing and posting mine and holly's yearly DHB sanctuary shot ( to the uninitiated, DHB stands for Damn Hell Bathroom shot...a little thing some people do in public bathrooms that is not illegal;)), i flipped back to our shots from previous years and gasped.




how the hell did she turn into this confident independent creature without me realizing it?

three years is not a long time. and yet, she transformed from child into teen and somehow i missed it.

i *know* she is growing up, intellectually, but for some reason, she is still very much the youngest girl in this collection to me - all smiles and fun and exuberance...

the savvy looking kid with hands on her hips looking right at you in this most recent shot? when did that happen?

i hesitate broaching discussing the whole physical part that is made obvious in these photos. let me say, very clearly, that what i am discussing is not the physical changes that are visually chronicled here. those are normal, healthy changes that take place with all girls. there is no link between my girl's wonderful fullness at 8 and her obvious lankiness at 11 that is worth discussing. this girl's beauty shines from the inside out. as does her persnickitiness and her love of drama. major drama;). too much is made of what girl's look like on the outside...do not even get me started on that.

but that confidence?
oy.

it is easy to see and comment on the changes of the baby, through his first year and beyond.
i just never realized the impact the changes of my "big" kids could have on me as well.
we are growing adults over here. strange but true.
this was just a very real reminder.

6 comments:

deb said...

Oh, Ang! You didn't miss it. You didn't miss a thing because you got it all in the amazing photos you took all throughout those three years!!

I totally identify with your sentiment, but I am also a little jealous, and wish I had chronicled either of my girls in the wonderful way the way you have.

This has truly inspired me to not miss the next few years. Thank you.

Susheela Kundargi said...

It like watching the earth spin while you're on it ;-) not so much an observer as participant.

AntiJenX said...

I was recently looking through some photos of Miss W from 2 summers ago and finding myself just in awe thinking about how much she's changed. Beautiful post, Ang. <3

Anonymous said...

You didn't miss it because you just stopped to see. I am going through the same thing with my "princess" who just turned 11. Something grows inside of these girls and it is extraordinary to stop and see.

Christine said...

Love this collection! I also appreciate how well you capture your family, and it honestly inspires me to do a better job each and every time I read your blog!! Thanks Angela!

Anonymous said...

I love 'persnickitiness'. Gorgeous to take the moment to look back and see the budding sass.