Sling Diaries: On Vision

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you all are having great weeks - N and I submitted our applications for residency this week, so our place is full of excitement and some nerves and lots of late night talks about the next four to six years! Today I'm sharing a letter to Liv on this month's Sling Diary topic of vision. Read the rest of my entries here, and check out all the other amazing Sling Diarists here!
Dearest Liv,
Vision might be my favorite sense. I like to see things with my own eyes; I like to take pictures of things that I see so I can look at them forever, or plan trips to see things I have yet to see. I believe in the power of observation and am constantly trying to improve my own.
If you could see what I see when I look at you, you'd see happiness. You'd see a little wonder walking around discovering new things every day, a miniature of your father with your aunt's curly hair who laughs at the tiniest of things, sometimes nothing at all. Watching you take in the world around you has opened up my own eyes to the excitement of the simplest things. I watch as you try to grasp the stream of water I pour in front of you during bath time, or try to use the keys to get into the door, or reach with all of your might to try and put your shoe on your toe. My current favorite is you grabbing a framed picture of us and saying "mom." I watch these things and I remember what is so powerful about vision. In the simplest of meanings, it is having the power to see, and we've been blessed that you can do so. It is one thing to see, but it's another to observe, to realize that what you are seeing means something. And that's just what you're doing - observing and making connections and finding patterns and learning to anticipate - it's mind-blowing. As simple as your associations may be right now, you will use these skills of observation for the rest of your life, adding more and more to your personal painting of the world.
I hope I can teach you that we all have our own paintings of the world - what seems one way to you may seem completely different to someone else - and that's just fine. A keen observer will take note of what she sees, but also learn from what others have seen as well, knowing that our past experiences and sights we've seen alter our vision constantly. I think you're going to be quite the observer, Liv.
With observation comes knowledge, but also, habituation. What once grabbed your attention because of its novelty, loses its intrigue when you've figured it out, adding it to the list of things you "know." My hope for you is that you will always find something new to see, or at least something beautiful. Mommy is very very far from seeing it all, none of us have, so my eyes are always open. But some days everything is the same, there is nothing new - it is especially important on these days to know there will always be something beautiful, you just have to remember to look for it. The steam dancing up from a cup of coffee, the first morning light, a flower growing in the concrete - all little wonders I hope you will notice even as their novelty fades.
Love always, Mommy

I'm wearing an Old Navy Oxford top (here) and cardigan (here), jeans and flats from Bobbles and Lace (jeans here and similar shoes here), and Liv in my Sakura Bloom linen sling in Twilight.
Liv is wearing an American Apparel striped onesie (here), H&M cardigan (here), Carter's leggings (here), Baby Gap moccasins (similar here), and Sherbert Lane bow (she'll be releasing this style again soon)!