I thought she would wave or say "hi" in that tiny voice she reserves for strangers, but she surprised us when she dropped my hand and started walking toward them.

When the girls saw her coming toward them, they ran over, first just a few, finally more than a dozen. They dropped to their knees and took her hands in theirs and looked right into her blazing blue eyes, all smiles and giggles. A few reached out to touch her arms, her face, her blonde hair.

Finally, one little girl hugged her and propped Kenna up on her knee, and then all the girls touched her in some way, but all tenderly and with smiles and words of "sweet baby" and "pretty baby."

This went on for about a minute, maybe less, and Kenna was beaming and giggling, not afraid in the least. She turned, finally, to look at us. It was the first time she had let us see her in her own world all week.

Soon after Kenna was born, I quit a great job to stay home. After about a year, stir crazy, I started a home-based business. Six months later, I needed a vacation.

So here we were, a young couple with a child who wanted time away but couldn't bear to go away. I had heard about a resort on Runaway Bay in Jamaica that assigned a nanny to every room. Sounded great to us.

Kenna cried. When I am in a room with her, she clings to me, she hides behind me, buries her little face in my shoulder. Every mother goes through this, but I was a new mother; I didn't know that was normal.

Our nanny, Coretta, got Kenna's attention with a song. Kenna couldn't take her eyes off Coretta. We finished getting dressed for a morning walk on the beach and when we left, Kenna hardly noticed.

We stole away and enjoyed the private beach. We talked and held hands and took a swim. Franklyn D. Resort -- FDR for short -- is an all-inclusive resort with one unique feature: a "vacation nanny" assigned to every room. The door of our suite overlooked the flower-covered mountains; the bedroom and balcony overlooked the Caribbean Sea. There was a mix of activities from themed pool parties to free kayak rentals. Three restaurants and an outdoor grill provided food at any hour and the meeting place, the bar, was at the center of everything.

At lunchtime, we snuck to the outdoor grill, ducking behind sea grape trees to spy on Kenna in her little play area in the sand. I snapped pictures of her playing with new friends, cuddling with her nanny and participating in sing-alongs.

When I couldn't stand it anymore, I barged in and stole a hug, swung her around in the air, took her for a quick swim in the lagoon and fed her lunch. The nanny kept telling us she would be happy to feed her, that we could eat alone, but I knew if we did that, I'd just be spying on her. So we all lunched together under the bougainvillea, then went back to the room for an afternoon nap in a big family bed.

We abandoned her again at dinner time for some wine and adult conversation but only twice in our six nights there. The rest of the time we enjoyed the company of our daughter, this cool little person.

Watching Kenna interact with them and handle herself with such grace took my breath away. Brave and fearless like most nearly-2-year-olds, she had ventured out before but always looked back to make sure I was nearby. That day, she didn't.

I finally had to approach her. I thanked the girls for the visit and, leading Kenna out of the group, said we had to go. They got up without complaint and smiled at me, then waved good-bye to Kenna, shouting "Good-bye pretty baby."

She didn't object. Instead, she buried her little face in my shoulder as we walked down the path. I would have my little girl a little bit longer.

This is cache, read story here