little things

It's almost ten o'clock and my little ones just came scampering happily out of their bedrooms to ask, "Mama, is it okay if we sing?" Ah, the delights of having happy little ones. I can hardly complain when they want to sing themselves to sleep at the tops of their lungs, even if it is a little inconvenient sometimes when I really want to finish up some things and get some sleep myself.

One of the things I discovered during the months that we were staying with Keith's parents is that I am such an introvert. How I could have been unsure about this for the first twenty-eight years of my life, I don't know. I suppose because I don't hate people and do occasionally like to spend time with others, I thought I was maybe extroverted? But in this season of life, at least, I am most definitely an introvert. There is a point in the afternoons, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter, when all three children are asleep. That time is like gold to me. Since moving here and having that time again when there is nobody at all around, when I can just relax and not say a word to anyone... oh, that time is amazing. I can literally feel my soul recharging when that time happens. I'm pretty sure that I glow from within after getting that alone time. And when it doesn't happen... well, heaven help us.

Ezekiel has recently accomplished being able to pull himself to a stand. He falls down and bonks himself a lot, which is pretty sad, but he's also acquiring quite a happy-go-lucky sort of attitude which may be slightly related to not having his mommy running to his rescue every few minutes. Third babies really do have to toughen up a little and it may not be a bad thing.

Zekie really is the sweetest little guy. He's still sleeping in our bed and I love that cuddle time with him. He's quite the mover during the daytime, going up and down the hallway now to keep up with his older siblings, scooting rapidly under the table to devour remnants of the previous meal. (I'm sweeping more than ever but this kid is FAST with the food morsel intake!) He loves to crawl through our coffee table... it has a sort of ledge under it... which I never get tired of watching and encouraging. He's just such a happy little guy. He says "Mama" and "up" and "book" and still doesn't have a single tooth... which is also adorable. He plays peek-a-boo with me and has the bluest eyes and most endearing smile. We play and giggle together and he is enjoying reading more and more. Today we went to the library and got about a dozen new board books for him, which is especially wonderful for me because I was so tired of the older ones we had. Never buy board books for your kids, seriously! It gets so old to read them hundreds of times over. Older kid books are different... but baby books get SO old after a few hundred reads.

We are developing some special little rituals here. Abraham wakes me up first thing Monday morning before anyone else is awake and we rush outside together to watch the garbage truck take the garbage. It makes his day, I think. In the afternoons, too, we are adding a special time sometimes to go out and watch the sunset, again just usually Abraham and I. I love sunsets and so whatever kid is awake usually gets to share "sunset time" with me. In this season, it's Abraham, and I think he's enjoying it very much.

Anyway, it's now been twenty minutes or so since I first started writing this and the older kiddos are still too happy to go to sleep. I can't wait until our blackout curtains arrive in the mail and everybody can start sleeping more soundly! As usual, I can't seem to upload any pictures to illustrate some of the things I wrote about here but... life has been very lovely in these last few weeks, and maybe I will share the pictures someday.