Weekend Update

First of all, I have to apologize, we did not get the camera out once this weekend. While our daughters went to new heights of cuteness, we did not document a single second of it for your enjoyment, so you will have to use your imagination for this one . . .

This weekend, Addie was in rare form. We went to lunch after church, and the waitress and waitstaff could not stop ooohing over her. While I have to admit, the kid was cute, Elspeth is no wall-flower and I was getting increasingly annoyed about this. My sister in law, Karin, has always been sensitive to anyone seemingly showing preference for one of her children. While I have always understood this on a theoretical level, I feel like I really GET it now. I wanted to kill that waitress, because each time she exclaimed about Addie, Elspeth's face took on an expression I have never seen and can not interpret.

The truth is, I don't want either of my girls to feel like their value stems from how cute they are. Jeremy and I try consciously not to feed anything that would help them equate value with surface qualities. Finally, Ella leaned over her father, looked the waitress in the eye and said "My name is Elspeth." I was proud of my girl, but the waitress didn't take the hint. I never like my kids to act up, but I didn't really mind that the one getting all the attention in the restaurant ended her stay in a screaming fit that would pierce the eardrums of the nearly deaf. Elspeth, meanwhile, was the picture of polite decorum. I love my kids for challenging any notions you may have about them at any given moment.

Yesterday afternoon, we visited the gym with the kids. Our gym will let you take your kids on the courts, as long as you are there to supervise. For this, I truly am kicking myself for not hauling the camera. So you will have to use your imagination and picture the happiest you have ever seen Elspeth, now multiply that by 10. She lit up when she hit the gym floor and didn't stop for the hour we let her run. The only time she slowed down, is when she determined that one of the balls was "sad" and didn't want to bounce anymore (but it made a fast recovery). The favorite game seems to be bouncing the ball and then hopping after it.

Adwen, riding in the carrier with Mommy, clutched her small blue ball closely to her face. Occasionally, she would drop the ball so Mommy could squat and Addie would pick it up again. She carried that ball until I wrestled it from her grasp to put her coat on. Her favorite games seem to be watching Mommy bounce a ball, and chasing big sister Elspeth as she hops across the gym. Addie was so tired by the event, that she crashed by 6:30 (remember the time changed yesterday so this felt like an hour and a half ahead of bedtime).

This morning, both girls slept until we retreived them from bed. I made it to work on time for the first time in a long time. What a great weekend.