My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

I’ve heard of wearing strappy sandals, but Susie’s taken her crocs to the next level: 

I guess that’s what you get when you ask a toddler to put on her own shoes!

Edited to add: For any inquiring minds, I wanted to note that it looks like Becky’s health is returning.  She’s kept everything down in the last 24 hours -hooray for no additional laundry!  She did take two long naps today, which is unusual for her, but I’m not going to complain (I always put the girls down for two naps, but the afternoon stretch usually consists of one long, raucous playtime).  Her appetite was markedly decreased for most of the day, but she finally ate a decent dinner.  So hopefully we’re in the clear.  I’ll keep you posted!     

Yesterday afternoon, the girls spotted their dresses in a laundry pile on the floor, and eagerly requested my assistance in putting them on.  I slipped them over their heads, and the girls instantly started prancing around like princesses awaiting an invitation to the ball.  I grabbed my camera and asked them to hold hands for a picture.  They forgot about the picture part, but they were very much amused by the holding hands part. 

They walked all over the house, hand in hand, grinning from ear to ear.  You’d have thought I had told them they had just won a lifetime supply of ice cream.  

After their giggly romp, I rewarded their sisterly behavior with a bowl of cheerios and raisins at the table.  When I brought over the camera to capture this “big girl” moment, they put on their cheesiest grins.

Even though I know this post is already quite picture-heavy, I have to include a couple more photos of Susie’s cheesy grin.  It just cracks me up.  I don’t think she can see at all when she does this.

I guess I’m encouraging them to keep up these goofy looks by my cackling laughter every time they cheese for the camera.  Oh well.  It may not make for candid shots, but it makes for a happy mama!   

We just got back from an eight-hour car trip to visit friends and family for a church conference in Pennsylvania.  We had a wonderful, uplifting time there, but it’s nice to be home.  I’ll post more photos tomorrow, but here’s a picture of the girls in the car this afternoon.  I wish I could say that they were in this quiet and relaxed for the whole road trip, but unfortunately they didn’t sleep a wink on the way down, and only slept for thirty minutes on the way home today.  But we all relished those thirty minutes!

For quite a few months now, Becky and I have been having a battle of wills.  When she eats, she will often put something in her mouth that she later regrets, such as vegetables.  And so, instead of swallowing them, or spitting them out, she simply clamps her mouth shut and hopes it disappears.  She will even do this with a food she normally likes, but that she’s simply had enough of.  Tonight, after eagerly consuming a wedge of raspberry dessert, she asked for more and I gave her an additional sliver.  Apparently, those few extra calories put her over the edge, because she put that extra piece in her mouth and there it stayed.  And stayed.  I refused to let her out of her highchair until she opened her mouth so I could remove the remainders, but she stubbornly would not oblige.  She sat for a half an hour while Susie and I played and read books.  I kept looking up at her forlorn face – it was clear she no longer wanted the food in her mouth, but she simply didn’t know what to do with it, and she wasn’t willing to let me help.  I eventually went over and started tickling her neck, hoping to budge her into compliance.  She started giggling with an open mouth and everything dribbled out.  She was visibly relieved, and so was I. 

I’m not sure who won this particular battle.  I’m the one who caved and didn’t let her sweat it out.  But I didn’t have to pry open her mouth, which I’ve done in the past.  This girl has an iron will.  And an iron jaw!