remember this?

I looked after a friend's little girl today for a few hours. April is 2 and I have known her since she was a tiny dot. But today was the first time I've minded her, so I was wondering if there would be any tears as she is very much her mummy's girl. Turned out she barely noticed when her mum left and we spent a happy morning, watching PlaySchool and Postman Pat, reading books and playing in the garden, where she spent a long time picking up handfuls of dirt from one end of the yard and transferring them to the dog's water bowl at the other end. The dog looked on, resignedly. Then we came inside, had some lunch and then sat down to watch a dvd of Hi 5. (So bright! So perky! So... annoying!) She snuggled into my side and was asleep within a couple of minutes. I hoisted her onto my lap, switched the channel to Ellen and sat peacefully for half an hour until my friend came home. April was warm against me, with that sweet smell that little children have, her hair so soft under my chin. Every now and then she gave a little snore. Seems like just yesterday I had my own 2 year old sleeping on my lap.