Go With the Flow

This is the second week that we've had Cristal coming over in the morning to take care of Evie and it's working out incredibly well, at least from our perspective.  Seth gets Evie up in the morning, gets her dressed and breakfasted.  Cristal comes over at 9 and she and Evie play with stuffed animals, klip-klop horses, puzzles, or read books, or chase each other around the house.  They go outside and play in the yard, sometimes with bubbles.  Cristal has even taken Evie and Nathan to the zoo one day this week.  She has been a huge help and we are really grateful that this was all able to work out.

When Baby Nathan comes with Cristal, Evie loves it.  Well, she wasn't a fan when he sat in her chair at the table in order to eat his dinner.  But other than her special dinner chair, she likes sharing her toys with him.

Reading a book to Baby Nathan

Guarding him as they walked through the zoo

Kisses

Cristal said that when they were on their way back from the zoo, Evie took Nathan's hand and did "This Little Piggy Went to Market" with his fingers.  Then, when he was getting a little fussy and sleepy, she started singing to him the song that I sing to her every night, from Disney's Tarzan, "You'll Be in My Heart".  Oh my, when she told me that I just burst into tears.  My sweet girl.

She's a funny girl too.  The other day I told her to come over to me so I could put a shirt on her.  She was holding her hands in a weird way, and I told her, "You need to move your hands."  So she started shaking her hands around, very literally just moving them.  This reminds me of a story that I'm told happened and we have picture evidence of it being around my 3rd birthday.  My brother and I were at the table and Mom was trying to get a picture of us.  Dad said, "Look up!" and we both looked up to the ceiling.  I think I'm right about that, right, Granna?

Evie also told me the other day that she wanted her dogs.  She said, "They're special dogs."  I said, what makes them special.  She said, "Cause, cause, cause, cause Herbie is special for me."  

Over the last weekend for Mother's Day, my brother and his family came into town so Evie enjoyed playing with Addie and Will, and attending a party on my Mom's side of the family and therefore seeing Nyla, Naomi and Baby Natalie, plus Zach, Aiden and Lydia.  I didn't go because I wasn't feeling so well, but Evie went with Granna and Grannadaddy and reportedly had a blast.  They played hide and seek and at one point Zach was the seeker with Evie as his seeker junior.  I'm glad Evie got a chance to spend some time with Kristy's kids.  She has a book that they narrated and she likes to read it often and says, "That's my Zach, my Aiden, and my Lydia!"  Very sweet.

Evie and Will enjoying a mixture of old and new toys at Granna's

Evie and Addie sat together and church and as Evie started getting tired, she put her head in Addie's lap.

The thing that has impressed me the most this week is Evie's willingness to go with the flow.  I had a lot of pain this past week and couldn't pick Evie up or get on the floor with her which made a really big change in her routine.  I usually greet her every morning by scooping her up in my arms, I pick her up often throughout the day, I bathe her, get on the floor to play with her, I sit on the floor next to her when she goes potty, I rock her and then pick her up to put her to bed...  I mean, there were so many things I couldn't do this week that made her daily life incredibly different.  But Daddy and I explained to her that Mama had some boo boos and couldn't pick her up or sit down with her and she was amazingly cooperative and understanding.  She let Daddy be the one to scoop her up, to bathe her, to take her potty, without complaint.  She would come over to me while I was lying on the couch trying to recover and would say, "Mama, you got boo boos?"  I would say yes and she would lean her head against my shoulder and pat my arm and say, "I sorry you."  We kept to our night time routine as much as possible.  Normally, Seth finishes getting her pj'd and brushed and she comes to sit in the rocker with me.  We read a book and then I turn out the light and sing "You'll Be in My Heart" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".  Then I carry her over to her bed, tuck her in with her two blankets, turn on her two glowworms and lean down to kiss her head and tell her, "I love you, I'll see you when the sun comes up."  But this week since I couldn't carry her or bed over, I would read her a book from the comfort of the couch and then we'd walk into her room and she would get into her bed while I bent at the knees in order to lean down enough to tuck her in.  Then I would turn out the light and tell her night night.  Given that she's a child of routine and habit with a great memory, I expected a lot of resistance and upset to the change, but she went right to sleep, like she understood why things have to be modified.  I am still not 100%, but at least now we have been able to resume her sitting in my lap for a book and singing.  I just can't carry her around yet.  But I'm looking forward to getting recovered completely and scooping her up.  At least she is generous with hugs and kisses while we are sitting together.  She's such a sweet girl.