It seems like yesterday. The dog drooling and panting under the highchair, waiting for the half-chewed Zwieback toasts to fall to the floor. Which they surely did, one, two, three, another half, a few more crumbs, and finally just a ball of saliva and Gerber baby-food-product scarcely hitting the floor before being scarfed up by the dog.

“Honey, tell me, why am I buying these expensive teething crackers? They should label them
dog treats”, I say to my husband. “Can’t we just use a Ritz?”
But I relish in the fun she’s having, exploring the abilities of her new-found teeth and solid food. Chomping and chewing and mushing. My baby girl, Sara, had gotten her first two teeth and I ran out to buy the crackers the very same day, eyeing the Gerber Graduates, jars of endless baby food and exciting things she’d soon be eating.
Time disappears, yet freezes too, when raising children. And one day while on vacation we spin down a water slide and realize our baby is now six and off with her cousins down the mega-tube ride, without us, and we’re left alone, afloat on the lazy river ride. While on vacation this past week, summer came for my daughter - she grew about two inches, learned how to do a somersault under water and lost two of her baby teeth.
Your beautiful baby smile, frozen in my memory forever. I love you.