My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

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!

At least they were sharing my shoes with each other, if not with me! 

This picture is the culmination of my inability to think of anything creative to do on a rainy day (OK, so it didn’t rain until the evening, but I just didn’t feel like going outside when it was so dreary-looking).  I had already read with the girls, sang with them, danced with them, ate with them, and so out of desperation, I got out all of their stuffed animals and told them to line them up on the couch.  Obeying pointless directions always seems to make them happy, so off they went.  Then they asked to sit up on the couch with their animals, and since I can’t resist any photo that involves both girls doing something cute, I ran and grabbed the camera to take this picture.  It may not be an exciting life here at our house, but we manage to smile all the same!   

Nothing brings sisters closer together…than a little TV time at Bubba’s house.

Today was one of those days where I just kept finding myself shaking my head and thanking the Lord for his goodness.  It started off with a nearly non-existent nap where the girls played in their cribs for an hour and a half before finally falling asleep, which forced me to wake two very cranky children out of a sound sleep to get them ready for a play date at the park.  Once the girls realized I had woken them up for something fun, they perked up and played wonderfully with two of their adorable friends from story hour (pictures below).  The Lord preserved the girls through some precarious slide maneuvers and attempts to ingest gravel and wood chips, and blessed all the kids with great attitudes as they navigated those tricky toddler waters of group playtime.  After two great hours at the park, we headed home and I got the girls ready for their afternoon nap.  I was changing one of them on the floor when her sister (who shall remain nameless) decided to bend over and randomly chomp into her forehead, leaving teeth marks and an extremely unhappy sister and mother.  I figured after one child was thoroughly disciplined and the other thoroughly consoled, that surely they must be ready for a good, long, deep nap.  But no, they decided to use their afternoon crib time for another two hours of rollicking good fun.  When I went up to retrieve the sleepless children, I found that one of them (the victim of the vampire sister) had somehow pulled a table lamp out of the wall and into her crib.  Thankfully, the light bulb was intact and she was unharmed.  She must have grown elastic Gumby arms when I wasn’t looking! 

The rest of the evening was blessedly uneventful, and they are now sleeping soundly (or at least, silently) upstairs.  Thank the Lord for a good, full, exhausting, exciting day!

Becky (middle): “Who knew playing in the gravel could get you so dirty?”

Susie: “Peekaboo!  I see you, baby!” 

Susie (on right): “This baby knows how to play!  She loves messing up wood chips as much as we do!”