moments
We took the kids to splash island today. Halfway through the day, Jordan finally mustered up the courage to hold her nose and duck down under the water. She's never done this before, and was extremely proud of herself. You should have seen her face, her joy/pride/self-esteem/all around happiness was undisguised.
I praised her like crazy. It was a big moment for her - her smile was "THIS BIG." At one point, she came up out of the water, dripping wet and I clapped and cheered as I had the previous ten times and she threw her arms around me and said "Mommy you're the best!"
*****
The other day I was getting ready to take the kids outside. It was cold and windy out and Jordan had just put on a skimpy little sun dress. I told her she had to wear pants and a sweater with her dress (we don't mind the combos). She sighed as I pulled a pair of pants out of her drawer.
"Jordan," I said. "Don't sigh at mommy, it's not nice."
She still looked annoyed, and she turned to run off. She runs off a lot. I caught her by the hands and held her hands in mine. I looked at her seriously - I find it works to talk to her like a big girl.
"You know daddy works at Cobbe's right?"
Jordan nodded.
"And that's very important that Daddy goes to work every day. Do you know what my job is?"
And in her little-girl voice, Jordan said "To look after us?"
"Yes," I said. "My job is to look after you. Sometimes I have to ask you to do things like put on pants to keep you warm because I'm looking after you. That's an important job too."
THEN she took her hands out of mine, gave me a big hug, said "I love you Mommy", and then very willingly put her pants on by herself before running off.
It may be silly, but I had a lump in my throat.
*****
Jordan is wanting more and more to be a big girl all the time. She's stubborn, she tries to assert her new big-girl authority, she pushes her boundaries. She wants to do things by herself.
She also wants to be just like me. It doesn't matter that I'm the rule maker, the house-hold referee, the schedule keeper, or that I say no to a lot of her requests. Jordan says she wants to be just like me. She's excited when she finds a new freckle, because I have freckles. The other day I caught her contorting herself in front of the bathroom mirror. She was trying to see a freckle that I once told her she had on her back.
She's quite proud of the fact that we're both girls and the others aren't. She says we're the same, and that we're twins. She says we're the best because we're girls. I may not encourage this sort of thing for too much longer, but at the same time it's cute that she's trying to find solidarity between the two of us.
Jordan helps. She'll bring Mitchell bottles if he's sad, she'll grab cutlery, cups and other things to help set the table. She wants to do dishes, but I put that off because she's so messy. She's more than eager to help carry in groceries. She wipes up spills, she fetches me things, she sits Tennyson on the steps by the front door and puts his shoes on if I'm getting ready to go. I generally don't ask her these things, she just wants to.
You know what the funny thing is? I just had that baby! Any trace of my baby girl are gone, and has been replaced by funny, opinionated, capable, intelligent big girl.
I praised her like crazy. It was a big moment for her - her smile was "THIS BIG." At one point, she came up out of the water, dripping wet and I clapped and cheered as I had the previous ten times and she threw her arms around me and said "Mommy you're the best!"
*****
The other day I was getting ready to take the kids outside. It was cold and windy out and Jordan had just put on a skimpy little sun dress. I told her she had to wear pants and a sweater with her dress (we don't mind the combos). She sighed as I pulled a pair of pants out of her drawer.
"Jordan," I said. "Don't sigh at mommy, it's not nice."
She still looked annoyed, and she turned to run off. She runs off a lot. I caught her by the hands and held her hands in mine. I looked at her seriously - I find it works to talk to her like a big girl.
"You know daddy works at Cobbe's right?"
Jordan nodded.
"And that's very important that Daddy goes to work every day. Do you know what my job is?"
And in her little-girl voice, Jordan said "To look after us?"
"Yes," I said. "My job is to look after you. Sometimes I have to ask you to do things like put on pants to keep you warm because I'm looking after you. That's an important job too."
THEN she took her hands out of mine, gave me a big hug, said "I love you Mommy", and then very willingly put her pants on by herself before running off.
It may be silly, but I had a lump in my throat.
*****
Jordan is wanting more and more to be a big girl all the time. She's stubborn, she tries to assert her new big-girl authority, she pushes her boundaries. She wants to do things by herself.
She also wants to be just like me. It doesn't matter that I'm the rule maker, the house-hold referee, the schedule keeper, or that I say no to a lot of her requests. Jordan says she wants to be just like me. She's excited when she finds a new freckle, because I have freckles. The other day I caught her contorting herself in front of the bathroom mirror. She was trying to see a freckle that I once told her she had on her back.
She's quite proud of the fact that we're both girls and the others aren't. She says we're the same, and that we're twins. She says we're the best because we're girls. I may not encourage this sort of thing for too much longer, but at the same time it's cute that she's trying to find solidarity between the two of us.
Jordan helps. She'll bring Mitchell bottles if he's sad, she'll grab cutlery, cups and other things to help set the table. She wants to do dishes, but I put that off because she's so messy. She's more than eager to help carry in groceries. She wipes up spills, she fetches me things, she sits Tennyson on the steps by the front door and puts his shoes on if I'm getting ready to go. I generally don't ask her these things, she just wants to.
You know what the funny thing is? I just had that baby! Any trace of my baby girl are gone, and has been replaced by funny, opinionated, capable, intelligent big girl.
Comments
You're welcome Ange!