French Braids and Buttons

There are little things about being a little girl, that make a childhood what it is. Most of those things go by without notice, things that we don't really stop to think about.

Learning how to wash your hands. Learning how to properly apply toothpaste to a toothbrush. Learning how to jump up into the air. Learning how to drink out of a real cup, versus a sippy. Those kinds of things.

I'm trying to pause more often.
I'm trying to make the time.

She won't remember these things when shes older. Or maybe she will?
So thats where I come in.



Her first french braids.

Getting her to sit still wasn't as big of a challenge as I thought it would be. Getting my fingers to work the way they needed to though, well that was.

"Stop moving your head. Look up. Elie look up. Eleanore stop moving your head!".

And in the end it was worth it, wasn't it?

She twirled around in front of the mirror, over and over again, telling herself how pretty she looked.

Just as it should have been.



Buttoning your first button.

I don't remember buttoning my first button, its just something that I've always known how to do.
But I guess I didn't always know how to do it.

The look of concentration and determination on Elie's face. It was priceless. It was a moment that I felt blessed to witness.



French braids & buttons, my dear.
Some of the very best parts of a little girl's childhood.