Thanks to my iPhone and digital camera, it’s safe to say my girls’ lives have been well-documented, from big moments to the most ordinary, day-to-day occurrences. There are many times I’ll scroll back through photos on my phone or marvel at my Facebook memories and see how much the girls have changed already.
But it really hit me when I received Stella’s school photos this week, taken by Allison Davis, a wonderful local photographer and her classmate Fletcher’s mama. Stella has been going to the same adorable preschool since she was two years old, and by next fall she’ll be off to kindergarten. Allison has taken the children’s photos each year.
Seeing the school photos from this year was one thing, but comparing them to the photos from the previous two years made me emotional to say the least. Looking back at when she was two years old, she looks like such a little girl. And this year, she’s looking like a young lady.
In some ways, I can start to imagine how she’ll look in the years to come. It’s becoming less of a mystery as she loses the last bits of baby from her face. Her hair is less wispy, her smile more purposeful.
It makes me really proud and sad all at once — I guess that’s what it’s like being a mom, right?
Here is Stella at two, three, and four years old.
At least I know one thing for sure: she’ll always have a little silliness inside of her:
