Pucker Up

Aven recently went through a phase in which she didn't want anything to do with Ian if I was anywhere near. She wouldn't let him pick her up or hold her unless I wasn't home. She only wanted me. Our pediatrician warned us that this could happen and that it's totally normal. It didn't make it any less heartbreaking. Fortunately she has emerged from this difficult phase and into a completely fabulous phase in which she wants to kiss everyone in sight (as long as it's someone she knows). She also loves to kiss her toys, Grace Dog, and she even kissed her own toes in the bathtub tonight. I have to confess that this has got to be my favorite phase so far. She doesn't give what you might consider a real kiss. She presses her face up to your cheek (or arm, or leg) and sticks her tongue out as she makes a kissing sound. I've even been nipped by her baby teeth on a few occasions when she was a little too aggressive with her technique. I am grateful that her difficult phases seem to be peppered with heart-meltingly sweet phases like this one. Until she learns how to give a "normal" kiss I will proudly walk into work everyday with the remnants of a slobbery kiss on my cheek and a smile on my face because I get the opportunity to be a mom.