Hands

It's an incredible feeling when the small things you do for your children are then done by your children without any prompting. Since Lucy was born we've done something called very simply, "hands". I put her hand in mine and we admire the size difference. We look for similarities. We caress each others fingers and palms, giggling at the tickles and I marvel that these wonderful little girl hands were created by myself and Jill. Each time we do it, her little hands get just a little bit bigger and I always tell her this will be the last time her hand will ever be that small. It tugs at my heart knowing she won't be this small forever and I want to enjoy the little moments.

At the end of our little moment, I usually follow it up by kissing each finger tip and then the backs of her hands. I tell her, "I love this finger, and this finger, and this finger..." and so on. When we are done we continue on with our nightly routine. I cherish these moments because I know one day she won't want to play hands. But that day hasn't come just yet.

We spent the past four nights on vacation in St George, Utah. Ken and Pennie rented an awesome condo for us and the rest of the Howell/Garn gang. In our room was a nice large bed for Jill and I, a full size bunk bed for Lucy, and a crib for Ellie. However, sleeping arrangements didn't end up that way. Most nights consisted of Ellie in the big bed with mommy, and myself in bed with Lucy.

One night while trying to get Lucy to fall asleep I jumped into the bunk with her. I sang her favorite songs she requests from me including; "Twinkle Little Star", "Popcorn on the Apricot Tree", "Blackbird" by the Beatles, and "Rainbow Connection". Usually these put her down, but she was fighting off sleep. She was just too excited to be on vacation. At this point I just closed my eyes, kept quiet, and pretended to be asleep.

After a few minutes Lucy picked my hand up off the bed. She placed hers in it. I opened my eyes and saw her little hand, blue from the nightlight hue, running up and down my palm. She whispered, "Dad, I love your hands." "My hands are small, but one day they'll be big", Lucy said while sizing them up. After a few moments of looking at my hand she pulled it close to her face and kissed it. She wrapped her arms around my hand and kept it pressed to her chest. After a few minutes she grabbed me by a finger and kissed it. She moved from finger to finger, on both my hands. The whole time saying, "I love this finger, and this finger, and this finger...".