“What’re you doooooooin, Mama?”
“I’m cooking supper, what are you doing, Micah?”
Two seconds pass.
“What’re you doooooooin, Mama?”
“Still cooking supper. What about you?”
Three seconds pass.
“What’re you doooooooin, Mama?”
A couple of weeks ago, Micah and I had that conversation 500 times a day. Literally. If I sat down, she asked. If I stood up, she asked. If I put my shoes on, she asked. If I brushed my hair, she asked. If I picked up a book, she asked.
The questioning was constant and drove me up the wall.
Now she’s moved on. She only asks me two or three times a day, but we’ve taken up another conversation in its stead.
“Somebody’s hidin’ in my woom, Mama.”
“Who’s in your room, baby?”
“A mon-ter’s in my woom.”
“There’s not a monster in your room, Micah.”
Pauses for two seconds.
“Somebody’s hidin’ in my woom, Mama.”
This conversation ensues every. single. time I ask Micah to take something to her room. The first time we had it, it made me grin. The 689th time we had it, I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
In case you can’t tell, her conversational skills are growing, even if she sounds like a broken record at times. She’s at such a fun age. Every time I turn around, it seems she’s learning something new. My jaw dropped the first time she pointed at a stop sign and told me that it was an ot-ta-gon, but really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’ve been pointing at the octagon in her Elmo lift-the-flap book for months.
If you ask her name, she’ll answer Micah Joooones. We started working on my and Dennis’ names too, just in case someone asks her who her parents are. I didn’t have much hope in teaching her my name, but she’s getting there. If you ask her my name, she’ll say Essie Ann Joooones. Poor Dennis is left out. She knows his name but refuses to say it most of the time. To her, he’s Daddy Joooones.
She loves to eat and has an appetite like her mama. There’s not much that she turns down, and it’s funny to me that if there’s broccoli on her plate, she’ll eat it before anything else. She also loves Mexican food. Girl after my own heart. And breakfast. Also one of my favorites. Sometimes she eats more than I do, which is saying something. The girl can pack it away.
She’s fascinated with the idea of being a big sister, and she insists that the new baby is a girl. Poor thing will be disappointed if Peanut turns out to be a boy. She likes to lift my shirt and look at my belly, and every now and then, she’ll talk to the baby. Melts my heart.
She’s pretty stingy about giving out kisses, but if I pretend I don’t want one, she’ll grab my face between her little hands and cover it in kisses.
I don’t want to forget her at this age. I’ll take the toddler stage over the baby stage any day. That’s not to say that toddlerhood is without challenges. Last night we had a major meltdown over brushing her teeth. And she’s obsessed with things matching. If it doesn’t match, chaos will ensue. If she’s eating an orange and the wedges fall apart before she pulls them apart, she throws a fit, but I can handle all that. The good far outweighs the bad.
I love this little girl. Can’t imagine life without her.
Until next time, grace and peace.
This one turned two on September 17. It seems like this second year has passed more quickly than the first, and every time I flip through pictures from Christmas or even Easter, I marvel at how much my little girl has grown up. Last year I had a baby. This year I have a toddler.
At two years old, Micah is quite a character. Every day I marvel at how quickly she’s learning things. New words abound these days, and she simply amazes me. I think she’s pretty smart. She can count to three (and sometimes four or five), she knows most of her colors (although her favorite is pink), and she’s pretty good at shapes. Each day when I pick her up from preschool and talk to her about her day, I’m blown away by the fact that we can have actual conversations.
She’s a sweet girl, but she’s also got a mind of her own. She’s not above throwing a temper tantrum, but I think she’s learning that her Mama’s more stubborn than she is. She’s stingy with her kisses and only gives them out at bedtime, when she makes sure everyone gets their nighttime sugar.
She loves to read and sometimes sleeps with her books. Just like her Mama.
Her newest phrase is “Okie Dokie,” which she must have picked up at preschool. She says it all the time. Melts my heart.
Her birthday was on a Saturday, and now she thinks all birthdays are on Saturday. All cake is “Happy Cake” which is what she calls birthday cake, and ever since her birthday, she’s been kind of obsessed with singing Happy Birthday, but she always leaves out the word birthday. Micah’s version of the song goes something like this:
….Happy….to you….
….Happy….to you….
….Happy….to you….
Until she gets tired of singing it.
And did I mention that she loves Elmo? That’s probably putting it mildly. I think she’d marry him tomorrow if she could.
She’s pretty fond of Mickey Mouse, too.
I love this little girl more every day. I’m so thankful that God trusted me enough to be her mommy, and I pray that she grows into a woman who pursues Him with abandon. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for her.
Until next time, grace and peace.
I love this little girl. It’s hard to believe that in just two weeks she’ll be two years old. Every time I blink, it seems that more of her life has passed by.
I have been wrapped up in work and assignments over the past couple of months. The work is good, but I’m sad that I haven’t spent enough time blowing bubbles and drawing on the driveway with my little lady.
We’ve done those things, but we haven’t done them enough. Sometimes I feel like life is happening to me. Like I’m on the outside looking in. Like I’m not actually living it.
The key, I think, is to slow down enough to take it all in. Take pictures. Capture the moment. Draw and laugh and sing and blow bubbles. The work can wait.
She is my most important work. Sometimes I forget that, but don’t worry, she has her own ways of reminding me.
I don’t want to wake up 16 years from now and wonder if we played enough, laughed enough, and loved enough.
So I’m putting on the brakes and slowing down for a while. God gave me this one life. I’m going to live it.
Will you slow down and live it with me?
Until next time, grace and peace.
With Logan being so sick, things around here have been kind of heavy lately. I thought it was only fitting to lighten the load a bit with some snapshots from our daily life.
Micah is a copycat. She has entered the stage of toddlerhood where she mimics nearly everything I do, including getting ready in the mornings.
For the past couple of months, we’ve Dennis has been working on a bathroom remodel, which meant that I got ready in our bedroom most days. Micah was all about it.
As soon as I said it was time to get ready, she’d run to get her make-up bag (filled with travel-sized brushes and empty bottles), plop down in front of the mirror and start rubbing her face.
Priceless.
At least, that’s what I think.
Until next time, grace and peace.
Well, we’ve arrived. The first day of school for Micah. She was so excited when we arrived at the preschool, never even looking back after she walked through the gate. She’s going to have lots of fun, and I’ve enjoyed a quiet morning at home to get some work done.
Before we left this morning, I took the obligatory first day of school photos. She was quite proud of her backpack and kept turning around for me to get a picture of it, so I have lots of pictures of her back and only a couple of pictures of her face.
Either way, I’m glad to have captured the memories. She’s soaking up things like a sponge these days, and preschool will be a structured learning environment for her. She’s pointing out colors and counting, and I’m continually amazed by how quickly she’s picking things up. She’s a big girl now.
A big girl who was ready to stop taking pictures and climb in the car.
Hope you’re all having a good day. In a bit, I’ll head out to pick my little lady up, but until then, I’ll enjoy the quietness of the house.
Until next time, grace and peace.
