Pas de don’t.

by Amy M.

We were so happy to welcome JJ and Papa for a wonderful visit on Friday!  And they got to witness Jed consume his first real food (watermelon).  He loved it!

 

He loves his JJ!

So sweet!

Saloonkeeper Jed only serves whiskey.

Grocery shopping with JJ.

On Saturday morning, I thought it might be fun to take Eliza to her very first ballet class.  Boy, was I wrong!  Again, I apologize for the blurriness…this girl is never still!

We arrived a bit early, and she really enjoyed exploring the room. Once class began, however, she was Miss Crankypants.

First, she was mad because she couldn’t bring a toy scooter thing from the waiting room onto the dance floor.  Then, she was cranky because she was hungry.  Then, she was really mad because she couldn’t bring her snacks to the dance floor.  Then, we left.

The class itself was adorable…we’ll try again next week.  If it doesn’t go any better, then we’ll give up for now and try again in the spring.

I’m rather surprised she didn’t like it!  The songs and movements were so cute, and the teachers were wonderful.  Oh, well!

After her nap, she spent the entire afternoon dancing to the Grease soundtrack in the kitchen.  Maybe she just didn’t care for the song selections at dance class?

 

Her mood for 44 of the 45 minutes of class.

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Teacher or student?

Absolutely both!  I spend every second of my day either teaching or learning.  The babies have taught me so many things–here are a few I can think of at the moment:

-How to survive (and occasionally thrive!), with little to no sleep.
-How to finish my meal in 30 seconds or less.
-How to take the generous amount of patience with which I am already blessed and expand it tremendously.
-How to transform mundane objects into thrilling sources of amusement (I’m thinking of the time Eliza played with a box of Q-tips for two hours).
-On a similar note, how to be creative.  Confession:  this sometimes means that I (creatively) think of something, and then I find someone on Etsy who can make (create) it for me.
-Most importantly, they’ve taught me how to be a person who is less selfish, more loving, and more open-minded.  The most beautiful sound in the world is hearing Eliza say, “Mama!”  I can’t wait to hear it from Jed!

Things I’ve taught them:
(I’m told that most of Big Things gradually reveal themselves over time, but these are a few concrete things I can think of in my tiredness and delirium):

Eliza’s contributions:
-If you scream loud enough at HEB, Mama will let you eat a banana from the shopping cart.  This will make you incredibly happy, even though you don’t care about bananas when offered one at home.
-If you tee tee on the potty, Mama will perform an erratic, frenzied dance with lots of clapping at the end.
-If you go through the tedious process of loading clothes into the dryer, Mama will let you push the magical “start” button.  But only once.
-If you bring Mama a book, she will literally stop whatever she’s doing and sit down on the floor with you to read it.
-If you don’t eat much at your meals, you get to have more snacks throughout the day.
-If you find yourself bored at a restaurant, start whining.  BAM!  You get to walk around outside!

Jed’s contributions:
-If you need to cuddle during the day, make a few pitiful noises.
-If you need to cuddle during the night, make a few pitiful noises.  Bonus if you’re hungry–feedings prolong the nighttime cuddles.