Stories

One of my favorite things to do is watch Lilly outside.

Watching her turn her face up to the sun, close her eyes and breath deeply feels theraputic for me after a long and hectic day. On our walk this afternoon, she was so excited to chase the squirrels, "bark" at the dogs, bang sticks against the trees, buzz like a bee and smell the flowers. She's the sweetest girl I know. She's brilliant at following verbal directions. It's amazing what she retains. Lilly's memorize whole picture books and already has favorite pages she like to sit and read by the bookshelf. I loved watching her sing and do the motions for "Wheels on the Bus" for Steve when we Skype'd this evening. She never ceases to amaze me.

When Josiah woke up from his nap this afternoon, he was pretty sad. As soon as I brought him out, I grabbed two of his favorite books to read. He was reluctant at first to smile or engage in the story until I started doing all the noises of the animals in Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Every time I made an animal sound, he's look at me with his teary eyes and grin. It was as if his eyes were backlit with excitement and recognition. This evening, Lilly was upset that I interrupted her playtime to change her diaper. As she lay squirming and crying on the floor, he came up to her and said "no, no" and gave her a big hug and kiss. For as crazy and intense as he is, I am always amazed at his capacity to respond with love and tenderness.

Pictures:

Lilly at the mall. She was VERY excited about the candy...

When Josiah gets up, he always wants something to eat. He usually scatters Cheerios all over the floor, but this particular morning, he managed to get one stuck on his forehead.