The Scent of a Child

Last night, Einey woke up with an earache, so I let her crawl into bed with me and the heating pad.

As she lay there asleep in my arms, I became acutely aware of her scent. She smelled of crayons and dirt, pencil erasers and sweat. As she snuggled her head closer, I caught a whiff of her dragonfuit shampoo.

People always talk about what baby's smell like. Of powder and Johnson and Johnson's Shampoo. Of strained peas and curdled milk. Of poop. But as time goes on, they start to lose that distinctive smell of babyhood.

I also thought of smells associated with the girls over the past few years. I can remember Einey smelling of sweat because as a baby, she always had a sweaty head. Meenie had that distinctive hospital smell for awhile when she was sick. And Moe always smelled like Vanilla because she couldn't drink milk when she was younger. Then there is the smell the girls have when they are running a fever, it's not strong, but I can always tell. Moe gets a distinctive smell when she's teething, but that is because it always gives her loose bowels. Einey smells of Sunflowers and Berries, depending on which type of detangler I use on her.

During the Spring and Summer, the girls smell of fresh air and dirt (A smell also associated with soccer in our household). Sweat and lemonade. Popsicles and hot dogs. Lake water and Sun.

In the Winter and Fall, they smell of warmth against the crisp cool air.

I realized last night that they don't lose their smell, but rather, it evolves with them, changing as they do. It grows with them taking on their likes and personality.