My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

We had a wonderful experience this morning with two evaluators from the Birth-to-Three program, who visited our home to check the girls’ development.  Our pediatrician had recommended this check-up, due to the fact that the girls aren’t speaking yet (or demonstrating “expressive” language, to use the doctor lingo).  Apparently, many children their age have 2-3 words at this point, but my girls seem content to just clap and point.  He stressed that he didn’t think that anything was wrong, but noted it never hurt to have an extra set of eyes on the girls.  I agreed! 

I am relieved and pleased to say that the girls rose to the challenge.  They must have sensed it was performance time, because Susie in particular pulled out all the charm she could muster.  I thought her face was going to crack in half she was smiling so wide during the interview.  I guess she figured the evaluators would be so entranced by her cuteness that they wouldn’t have time to write anything on their clipboards! 

So whether by character or by charisma, the girls passed with flying colors.  They are on-target in every developmental area, and the workers assured me that the girls made up for their lack of expressive language with their grasp of “receptive” language, or comprehension.  That is, even if the girls aren’t talking back, they know exactly what I’m saying.  I suppose I ought to be grateful for this current imbalance.  It won’t be long before the girls won’t care what I’m saying, and they’ll talk back anyway!

I didn’t get a chance to pull out my camera today, but here are a couple of pictures from earlier this week of the girls admiring the Christmas tree.   

Becky: “Hmm…I think that ornament could stand to be moved a little to the left…”

Susie: “Mom, can you get that ornament down for me?  I think I’d like to see how it tastes.” 

Today was our first day back at the girls’ library story hour after several weeks of absences due to travel and illness.  It’s amazing how much colder it is now than when we last attended.  Before, we went outside for snack time in a light fall coat.  Today, I had to bundle the kids up to shield them from the bitter winter air.  Watching all the kids toddle around in their snow gear reminded me of those inflatable rental sumo suits I’ve seen on the internet:

Good thing the girls look cute with so much padding!

Susie (on right): “It’s her, Mom.  She’s the one who said Sunday morning photo shoots stink.  Not me.” 

Becky: “Who, me?  I’m smiling, aren’t I?  Take the picture already!”

Putting up Christmas decorations was always the highlight of the holiday season for me as a child.  My mom would put on our favorite Christmas records and we’d eagerly unpack the boxes, pulling wall hangings and ornaments out of what seemed to be decades-old tissue paper (that added to the timelessness of the process for me, as if these same decorations would delight generations to come).  I particularly loved the miniature town scene created by my grandfather, the little wooden crèche with the delicate shepherds and crinkly manger hay, and the fabric wall hanging depicting the five golden rings, three French hens, and other gifts from the classic carol.  Once all the decorations were in just their right spots – and these decorations did have specific,  unalterable locations, according to my childhood sense of right and wrong – I could sit back in the dim glow of the Christmas tree lights and marvel at the way our house was transformed overnight into a magical, festive place. 

I didn’t quite have that same sense of awe when I unpacked my own dusty bins of decorations this afternoon, mostly because I was trying to keep the girls from ingesting large quantities of several-year-old tissue paper.  Also, I didn’t have any Christmas music handy, so I had to settle for a CD of kids’ sing-along songs.  And my decorations aren’t exactly family heirlooms; they’re mostly stuff I’ve picked up on sale racks at discount stores that I initially figured would be serviceable until I found the time to carefully select really perfect decorations…only I never did.  So for the sixth year, my chintzy silver reindeer candle-holders will perch atop a shelf, while my chipped Walmart town scene will fill the staircase window sill. 

And now that my girls have helped me set out the decorations and watched me set each item in its spot (not necessarily the same spot as the years before, since my adult fickleness is constantly trying to assess whether the red and green stockings will too overtly clash with the plaid couch), I wonder whether these are indeed the makings of memories for my girls.  I wonder whether they will look back with fondness on my dollar-store Santa polar bear, as I do at my parents’ snow globe.  Maybe my mom didn’t necessarily have to shop long and hard for the perfect wall hanging.  She just brought one home and hung it up year after year, and that made it perfect – tradition. 

So although my current house looks nothing like a Pottery Barn catalog, neither did my childhood home – and I loved it all the same.  Probably more so.  Because what catalog features a doorknob hanger sporting a stuffed animal peeping out of a small stocking?  But that’s what made my home so home-like: all the quirky details that a child can’t help but love.  And judging by the girls’ ecstasy over the decorations we pulled out today, I have a feeling they wouldn’t want it any other way.    

We may not have Jack-in-a-Box restaurants here on the East Coast, but we do offer a special Susie-in-a-Box!

Becky (on left): “I didn’t push her in there, Mom – I promise!”

Susie: “Do I look like I want to be in here?”

P.S. – Susie did indeed climb into the box of her own free will, despite what she would have you believe.