My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

On Saturday, we visited friends and Jim got himself thoroughly filthy while riding ATVs in the mud while the girls and I stayed clean indoors.  Perhaps the girls would have preferred to be outside with their dad, with the wind whipping through their hair (or rather, “hairs”!), but we still managed to keep them entertained inside.  It’s always an adventure to be in a new place, even if there aren’t rivers to ford or hills to climb.  The girls enjoyed the feel of our friends’ wood floors – they’ve rarely been on anything other than carpet, so this was a new experience for them.

Becky was excited that she could stay on the area rug, but still reach over and slap the wood floor and make a good smack sound.

Susie ventured off the carpet and was surprised that it was more difficult to crawl with her knees sliding all over the  place on the slick floor. 

The real adventure, though, involved tastebuds.  Becky went bonkers over a wedge of orange I gave her.  She acted as if she had been given a slice of heaven. 

I hope, for my sake, that the girls’ adventures remain this tame for a while.  It won’t be long before their daddy will be taking them on true adventures, and I’ll be longing for the days when they were thrilled to simply touch wood floors than barrel through the woods!  

Jim’s parents installed baby swings on the swing set in their yard, so we had to try them out.  The girls swung like pros! 

Getting the hang of it.

Daddy showing the girls how to swing – he’s just a big kid!

Rebecca: “This is child’s play.  Let’s go faster!”

Susanna: “I’m watching to make sure Becky doesn’t swing higher than me.”

Rebecca: “Pappy, thanks so much for getting us these swings!”

My good friend Carrie came over today to play with the girls, but upon her arrival, the girls were apprehensive about her presence in the house.  Susanna took one look at her and burst into tears, and Rebecca eyed her suspiciously.  Susanna soon calmed herself, but still was not showing appropriate excitement that a dear friend had driven nearly halfway across the state to be with us for the afternoon.  She wouldn’t take her eyes off Carrie, but her expression remained pensive, as if she was weighing whether or not to trust this new face. 

Happily, the girls’ stranger anxiety eventually melted away (although not until after they’d had a nap), and soon they embraced Carrie wholeheartedly. 

Rebecca is showing her new friend how good she is at pressing buttons on the remote control.  Carrie was duly impressed. 

Susanna wanted to show off as well.  She decided to give Carrie a demonstration of her new trick:

CRAWLING! 

That’s right, my little girl can crawl.  She’s actually been crawling for about a week, but it’s taken me this long to come to grips with her newfound mobility.  I really didn’t believe it when it first happened.  I was on the phone with my mom last Monday, watching the girls play on the floor.  All of a sudden, Susie was a few feet away from where I had placed her, and I thought maybe I had hallucinated.  I couldn’t believe that a child who had learned to sit upright only days before would now jump developmental light-years ahead of her sister and start crawling.  My mom was sure that she had indeed started, if only because mom was an audible witness to the event.  Sure enough, in the following days, I watched as Susie started putting one knee ahead of the other.  Rebecca has been flabbergasted by her sister’s discovery.  She flops around on the floor like a fish out of water, yelping in distress that she can no longer keep up with her “little” sister.

Here’s a link to a video of Susanna showing off for Carrie and I.  You’ll notice that her crawling typically involves pit-stops, where she appears to rest and gather herself for the next leg of the journey. She also occasionally pauses to repeatedly tap her right leg on the floor, as if she’s already bored with this whole crawling gig.  Given her recent developmental speed, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was already planning her next move.  She may be crawling today, but she could be somersaulting tomorrow!

Susanna (on right): “Isn’t Easter fun?  We get to wear pretty dresses AND our grandmas give us bunnies!”

Rebecca (on left): “Here, Sus, let me adjust your face for you.”

Susanna (on right): “Beck, you’re so funny!”

Rebecca (on left): “You do know these bunnies aren’t chocolate, don’t you…”

Susanna (on right): “Oh…well…chocolate or no chocolate, the bunny still tastes good.”

The girls got these adorable Easter sleepers from Jim’s sister and her family.  Look at those feet!

Look at those tails!

Rebecca thought Susanna looked good enough to eat.