My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Susanna sure surprised us by successfully (and superbly) sitting today.  Hooray!  I wasn’t expecting her to master independent sitting so soon; just yesterday, we were practicing and I couldn’t keep her balanced for more than a few seconds without her tipping over like a top-heavy bowling pin.  But Susie was bound and determined to keep up with her sister.  When I sat her down with Becky this afternoon, she simply grabbed onto the toy between them and started playing while sitting up, as if she had been doing it all her life. 

We’re so proud of you, Susie!

Susie also wanted to show that Becky wasn’t the only one who liked bits of bread.  I had the girls sitting in their high chairs while Jim and I ate dinner tonight, and the girls weren’t happy with simply watching us eat without partaking themselves.  So I placed a few bread scraps on their trays and watched what happened.  Becky preferred to be handed the bread, but Susie expertly managed to take it from the tray to her mouth (her transfer was successful about 20% of the time – the rest of the time, I was wishing we had a dog to help clean up the floor!). 

First sitting, then eating grown-up food, what’s next?  Our babies are growing up!

This afternoon felt like spring.  I know it’s been spring for a while now, but it finally felt like it.  I packed up the girls and drove over to Jim’s grandmother’s place to drag her out into the sunshine.  The four of us took a walk and breathed in the fresh air (well, two of us walked – the other two were happy to glide around from the comfort of their shaded stroller).  When the girls and I returned home, I opened up the windows and felt winter’s shadows slipping away from the corners of the house.  Rebecca woke up from her evening nap before her sister, so I took her out onto the porch where we read a book and waited for Daddy to come home.  She was so enthralled by our exotic location that she barely paid attention to my animated reading of “Jamberry.”  I suppose I ought to emulate my daughter’s turning to nature for entertainment, rather than the man-made distractions with which I typically fill my time. 

Then again, she’s fascinated by her feet.

Here’s a picture of the girls and their dad enjoying the evening air on the porch.  Judging from the girls’ adoring gazes, Daddy’s presence trumped the scenic views. 

She may not have mastered sitting up yet, but she’s definitely mastered the magnificent “Susie smile”:

I think I may have failed to mention that last Monday, Susanna successfully started rolling from her back to her tummy, and now there’s no stopping her.  Her favorite time to flip is during diaper changes.  One minute, I’ll be attempting to secure the clean diaper around her skinny waist, and the next thing I know, she’ll have squirmed her way onto her stomach with her little bare booty sticking up in the air.  It would be exasperating if it wasn’t so humorous! 

Yesterday, we took advantage of the warm weather and took the girls for a ride.

A Razr ride.

For the uninitiated, a Razr is a smaller version of a Polaris Ranger, which looks like a golf cart on steroids.  Some of you may recall that Jim and I posed beside a Ranger for our Christmas card in 2007, which was only fitting, since Jim affectionately viewed the Ranger as his baby.  Well, now we have real babies, so this was the beginning of a lifelong combination of the objects of his adoration: his daughters and recreational motorsports!

The girls were appropriately impressed by their daddy’s Razr skills.  And I was impressed that Jim kept the Razr at a slow and steady pace.  Apparently fatherhood has tempered his lead foot. 

Here are the girls conferring with each other after their thrilling first ride.

I think I have two more Razr fans on my hands.

The girls are at the fun stage where they have the manual dexterity to grab toys, and the will to do what’s necessary to obtain the toys.  For example, when Becky sees Susie is in possession of an interesting object (such as a pacifier), it seems only logical to Becky to grab it out of Susie’s hands.  Fortunately, the now-empty-handed Susie is not upset by the theft.  If nothing more intriguing immediately presents itself, she just reaches over and takes the pacifier back.  And then Becky takes it again.  And Susie takes it back.  No matter who initiates the theft or the recovery, nobody appears overly concerned.  No one cries because a beloved object is abruptly removed.  No one pouts because her sister is playing with something she wants.  Each one simply accepts that play time with a toy could be interrupted at any moment. 

Oh, to have the wisdom of a child.  If only we could all learn that our possessions are temporary, and their loss is not worth the shedding of tears.  Although, I’m not certain that we should emulate the girls’ recovery methods.  It probably wouldn’t go over too well if we started grabbing things that we wanted out of other people’s hands.  But, then again, if others didn’t mind that the objects were taken, perhaps it would work out fine.  Just as long as we don’t follow the girls’ pattern of then sticking said objects in our mouths before handing them back.

(And no, Susie -on the right – hasn’t yet mastered independent sitting.  She’s leaning on my knee for support.  But she’s getting close!).