Family Fun and Milestones

I swear, these days Little Miss is acting more like a hormonal teenager than a toddler. Her mood swings are ridiculous. But, the good moods are really great!

We've had a huge aphid population swarm our city in the past couple of weeks. It's been awful, because you can't go out to enjoy the beautiful weather without getting completely covered with the wretched little things. I have a major problem with bugs, so I stay as far away from these little critters as I can. So, needless to say, we haven't been doing too much playing outside. Late last week, Baby Girl and I went next door to visit with our neighbor for a few minutes. While we were there, Little Miss came home from her little excursion with daddy and joined us at the neighbor's. Dark had settled in when I decided that I should head home, and I had to coax Little Miss to come with me. While we were walking across the yard, this strange urge to spin around in circles hit me. I spun and spun while holding Baby Girl, and Little Miss, quick to join in on anything that remotely looks like dancing, started spinning along. We were getting dizzy and laughing joyfully; Little Miss would get so dizzy that she would fall down time after time. After we spun separately for a little while, Little Miss grabbed my hand, wanting me to spin with her. I was having so much fun with my girls that she didn't have to ask me twice. We spun together, and, as the neighbor across the street came home from somewhere, we all laughed together (including the neighbors). It was so much fun! Finally, I needed a break to get my bearings, so Little Miss proposed a new game--walk on the brick edging flapping our arms like butterfly wings and barking like Boxer (our dog). What a crazy idea! Of course, we did exactly as she proposed, laughing all the way. This activity wasn't nearly as fun as spinning, though, so Little Miss quickly lost interest. When daddy came out to see what all the noise was about, we ALL started spinning around the yard. The giggles were fantastic! The next suggestion that came from Little Miss made it even more apparent that she is just like me--"Hey, lets lay down and look at the stars!" So, there in our front yard, we all laid down on our backs and looked at the stars, pointing out different pretty ones that we saw.

You know that night would have been great if the story would have ended there. However, it got even better. After we all came inside and I got Baby Girl to bed, Little Miss and I sat together in the big, comfy chair in the living room. As we sat there cuddling, we learned Bible verses. Little Miss is old enough for AWANA now, so we were trying to get through her Cubbies work. But, it was just so sweet, because we were hiding God's word in our hearts, but we were also affirming to each other that even though we both lose our tempers, we still love each other very much. I truly have to say that I don't know that I remember having a Friday night as good as that night.

Baby Girl figured out tonight that she can stand all by herself tonight. We were at a friend's for dinner, and, after dinner the babies were playing together in a little ball pit. Little Miss was cruising around some, and let go all of a sudden. I happened to be watching, so I clapped and made a big deal. Once she realized that she got all that praise for standing, she practiced over and over again until she was standing unsupported by anything for a minute or more. I was so proud of my Baby Girl! She's getting so big!