and now stella-
this is the tree directly in the back of the house. its very bumpy but the kids still love to climb it. Stelly is wearing a shirt that i used to put on one very particular stuffed bear when i was a child, and a bandana that was my hanky, and was kept in my top dresser drawer along with my fallen out baby teeth until i moved out and maia turned the dresser into his rock star sticker lair. She wears many of the baby clothes that my mom made for me to use for my dolls and stuffed animals. she insists that they fit her, and i agree and scoop her up and smell her and try to blend the memory of my days of pretending and hoping for a real baby with these days of the actualization amd reality of it, insanity and all. I tend to think she does this on purpose, to keep me from losing my childhood.