.403 up close & personal

i adore her face, even though it looks nothing like my own. 

(i'm pretty sure we have identical spirits, if it's any consolation)

notes:

1. i could have cleaned her nails, but i choose my battles wisely.

2. now that she knows how to focus my camera phone, she takes at least 200 pics a day (mostly of stuffed animals and me)

this is my "so i really carried you for 9 months and you just gon' diss me and look like your father" face.

.275 day 248

.049 day 38

eleven year old, tatiana, attempting to teach, toots, heart & soul (the infamous song from 'big') on her piano.

as i watched my baby hit whatever keys that tati, first played, then directed her teeny fingers towards, my chest tightened. she was bred in music. piano's, saxophones, drums, trumpets, voices, all heard up close, and trembling ever since she rest inside of me. her father, his band, sometimes playing into the wee hours of the night/turned morning, lips to my stomach, singing to our unborn soul while i slept. her very first night on earth, as we acquainted ourselves with one another, john coltranes, naima, serenaded us until daylight.

i smile now. toots still delights at the sound of music. raises hands to sky, stomps her feet, sways her quickly growing body whenever it's around her. and all i could think about, in this o' so serendipitous moment, was how very proud of her he would be...