Sunshine and sandwiches

I was hit with the sudden realization the other day that my children are all...well...children. Though this may sound odd, for the first year and a half or so of life, depending on the child, children aren't really children. They are instead a living force somewhat resembling something imagined by Jim Henson and his amazing muppet people that though hitting milestones and developments, still depends on you for absolutely everything. Their likes and dislikes are relative to what you have exposed them to, and what will garner approval from you. Then all of sudden one day they turn the switch from automatic to manual, and from that day forward, you have one wild, breath taking, and fabulous ride. Zachary hit this point a few days ago - and our lives haven't been the same since.

Today is the third day of my official "staycation." It was supposed to be a vacation, but alas it was not in the cards. Rather than picking up shifts at work, I decided to enjoy the time with the kids - our first real down time since moving out here. Monday we walked to the park and the library, and were rained on for the walk home. Tuesday we stayed inside - huddled together against the four inches of accumulated snow outside, and today was library and park again. Though seemingly a mundane pattern, it still was filled with moments of surprise - like surprise that wet spot on the couch was not from the leaking sippy as previously thought.

Sophie has been speaking in complete sentences for a while now, and last night recited the whole entire story of the three little pigs, complete with plenty of "huff and puff." Zachary is still doing one word at a time, but has mastered inflection, proper response, and sarcasm. (Being pushed on the swing while he laid on his stomach garnered a "wee" with as much enthusiasm as one might expect if he was being presented a spoonful of cod liver oil) Since he can say words like "dinosaur" and has been able to for a while, I suspect there is more vocal capability there then what he is demonstrating, but prefers to present himself as the strong and stoic type.

If he is going to carry off the strong and stoic thing, he is probably going to have to ditch the motto "Everyone deserves a little sparkle" especially when carried out with mass amounts of rhinestones, glitter, and his sister's tutus. We are currently trying to focus this energy in the direction of pirates and musketeers...and I personally am thrilled with his new penchant for trains...though trying to explain that not everything is a train or destined to make the choo choo noise has been a little more difficult....