Delight

Caroline gave me a mug for Christmas this year.  Jeff took her shopping and she picked it out all on her own.  It's a big mug adorned with pink flowers.  She was so proud when I opened it, but that pride pales in comparison to how she reacts when I drink my coffee out of it in the mornings.  That reaction -- or maybe more accurately the way that reaction has sustained in the month since Christmas --has really taken me by surprise.

A mug?

Really?

Though she may not even realize it, I know it's not about the mug.  It's about me truly appreciating something she gave me.  She has a similar reaction when I wear a necklace she picked out for me for Mother's Day last year.  It's hard to put into words the way her face lights up when she feels appreciated.

Delighted in.

I may have missed it earlier in life, it's not a new concept, but that word, delight, has been hovering near my heart over the past six months.  At a conference I went to with friends in the Fall, I went to a session on raising girls and while there was a lot of great information to take in, the one thing that stuck in my mind was that young girls (and older girls I'm sure) need to know that their parents delight in them.  When first spoken, the word conjured in my mind the image of a girl in late afternoon sun, barefoot, with a crown of twisted clovers in her hair, head tilted back as she laughs with her whole self.  The kind of laughter that is infectious.  The kind of laughter that reminds adults what it's like to be a child.  The laugh that makes other people happy.

In the past few days, I've read a couple of things forwarded by friends that drive this point home in a really poignant way for me.  One is a post about the importance of how a father treats his daughter and the other is about actually speaking that delight over our children.

Both have challenged me and encouraged me profoundly.  And reminded me that in word and deed, even in the seemingly simple act of choosing to drink coffee out of a particular mug in the morning or to wear a certain necklace, I get the privilege of delighting in my girls.

Aggregate

In the car yesterday evening on the way to the grocery store Charlotte said, "Mama, you and all of this traffic is aggregating me!"  I asked her what was "aggregating" her about me all of the traffic, and she said, "Not aggregating Mama! Aggrenaking!  Uh.  I don't want to talk about it now."

Please pray for me as this child grows up.

Look who's talking . . .

A mouth full of popcorn has never been cuter, in my opinion:

Weekends are for wishing

It's a beautiful day here.  I hope you all enjoy it.

Our Chatterbox

Camille is quite the verbal toddler.  She says so much -- most of which I can't understand mind you -- but she talks all the time.  In keeping with my attempt to catch up on all that's been happening in our lives over the past 6-8 weeks, I thought I'd post this video of Camille's first performance of The Itsy-Bitsy Spider from earlier in the month.  It's pretty much genius.

surfacing

One of the biggest problems with taking an unintentional break from blogging is that I have no idea where to begin when I start back at it.

So, to ease the transition I'll just lead in with a picture of my favorite three year old:

The girls are doing well, they had a great Christmas and New Year.  Santa made his visit to the house and girls were thrilled to wake up to a couple of shiny bikes reflecting the Christmas tree lights.  And Barbie stuff.  Lots of Barbie stuff.  Caroline and Charlotte will actually play Barbies together fairly well.  Sometimes.  Perhaps the sheer volume of all things Barbie aids in getting them to play together; there's not as much actual sharing that has to go on.  I think that is key to getting a 6 year old and 3 year old to play well together: don't make them share too much.  That sounds terrible, but their styles of play are just so different that getting them to interact while they play leads to frustration and tears.  When they can play next to each and interact occasionally, those times are much more pleasant for all of us.

We spent the holidays close to home for the most part.  Or for all of it actually.  Caroline had a good break from school.  I think she was ready for a little break from homework and the stress of being in the first grade, but two and a half weeks seemed to wear on for her.  After about ten days, she was acting like she was ready to get back in her routine.  With both Jeff and me being back at work and Charlotte and Camille being back at school, the idea of a long break was a little more appealing than it was in practice.  But she was glad to be back to her schedule and her friends once she went back.  They had an awards ceremony several days after school went back in and Caroline got the "Awesome Attitude" award.  I was thrilled for her to be recognize for having a positive attitude school.  She's also lost both of her top front teeth, making for a precious, gummy smile from my oldest girl.

Camille is changing by the day and she is walking, albeit a little unsteadily, everywhere, all the time.  She is talking more and more.  Her favorite word is, of course, "No." With "Stop it!" being a close second.  She continues to grow a precious head of dirty blond curls that melt my heart every morning when I pull her out of her bed.  She is growing in every other way imaginable as well, she's quickly gaining on Charlotte in both the height and weight categories.  I think Charlotte is going to be our shorty, though.  A cute shorty, but she's definitely inherited a recessive gene for height.

Speaking of Charlotte, she continues to exhibit her independent, feisty spirit in just about every endeavor she take on.  When she first got on her bike, she was excited, but got frustrated fairly quickly with her inability to pedal it fluidly.  After a couple of days of trying, she finally got it and she absolutely loves that bike.  She took a pretty long ride down the levee with Jeff this past weekend and he was so surprised at her determination to keep going further and further.  Charlotte is starting to play independently so much more than she ever has before.  She will play alone in her room, singing, dress-up, dolls, Barbies . . .I love to catch her playing without her seeing me.  She's a joy as always.

There's the not-so-quick rundown of where we've been over the past six weeks.  And here's a little picture of our crew as a reward for getting through all of that: