M. Suzanne Terry

I’m guest-posting over at Story Sessions today!  We’re sharing memories this month.

“Do it again, Ut-zanne! Do it again!” Julie giggled as she toddled her tiny body in front of me again.  Her face was flushed.  Her hairline glistened, and one ringlet stuck to her cheek while the others swarmed her head like bees around a busy hive. Her hands clapped around anything that could steady her and immediately released it, lest it keep her from getting to where she was going.

She was radiant and irresistible.

So I answered her outstretched arms by hugging her against my knees.  She sat on my feet.  She could not stop laughing, so we both just laughed for a minute.  Once she was secure and comfortable, I rocked back and forth a couple of times.  We had a song:

“Rocky the Rocking Horse

Was quite a remarkable force.

He’d run fast ahead…”

Then we rocked all the way back.

“…And roll back instead.”

I held her sides as I flipped her over and placed her feet on the ground by my head as we both squealed the last line –

“But did he have fun? Of course!”

Then she ran back around me as fast as her little legs could go.

“Do it again, Ut-zanne!”

And I would.  This could go on for an hour.  Whoever says that almost-two-year-olds don’t have long attention spans clearly has not been exposed to the wonders of Rocky the Rocking Horse.

Julie was usually the last one to leave the daycare where I worked when I was in college, so we often had long periods of one-on-one time. We played.  We danced.  We made up songs. On afternoons that had been particularly chaotic, we went on treasure hunts (i.e., “find the toy that’s out of place and put it where it belongs”). Her mom always had a story for me when she arrived about Julie singing our songs to her stuffed animals or telling her that something was “we-mock-a-buh.”

I love Julie.  I love the freedom with which she danced.  I love the utter abandon of her sweet voice belting out songs as loud as she could.  I love that her favorite word as a toddler was “remarkable,” and that she could use it correctly in a sentence.  I love that she listened and learned and voiced her opinions.

I love that she knew that she was a remarkable force.

(Originally posted at Story Sessions)