Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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Ok, I know I just updated but I have to get this down before I forget it.
On Sunday afternoon, after 3 days of rain, the sun appeared and it was wonderful out, 75 degrees, humid and perfect. We took the boys to West Lake Park, so Luke could ride his new tricycle in a dry parking lot, and they could play on the playground. So we got there, they played for a while and then realized there was a lake at the bottom of the hill we were on, and wanted to see it up close. So we all walked down together. The ground was totally saturated, mud was splattering up from under the grass and spattering my legs, all of our shoes were immediately soaked, but whatever. So we get down, the boys look at the water, Levi tries to walk right in (typical fearless water-loving toddler), and we start to head back up. But oh! We found a mud puddle. Only about 1 1/2 feet diameter, it immediately attracted Levi's attention. He knelt down and splashed away, pulling out leaves and dropping in mud from a patch of grassless wet dirt nearby, having a blast...and then he slipped and fell in, covering his jeans and the back of his shirt in mud. "Uh oh!! Oh no! All wet!" he exclaimed...and did it again, on purpose. He stomped in the mud, splashed in the mud, and was having the best time of his life. Luke soon realized that Levi was having fun without him, and even Luke came and stomped in the mud!! (Surprising, because Luke does NOT like to be wet or dirty.) It was so cute and so completely BOY. I just felt so blessed right in those moments, thinking THIS is what life is about, just relaxed time with my family, enjoying the beauties of nature the way God intended. It was awesome.
And then Luke decided he wanted to ride his trike, so Scott and Luke headed back up the hill, while Levi kept playing in the puddle. Finally after some time I was able to convince him to come with me to find Daddy and Lukey and we headed up the sloshy hill, his little chubby hand in my right hand, his sopping wet sandals in my left. And as if the day weren't wonderful enough, Levi gave me the first actual gift that either of my boys has ever given me, of their own choosing and their own timing and their own heart: he found dandilons growing and tried, tried oh so hard to pull them out of the ground by their stems, but his slippery fingers just couldn't grab it right. So he popped the head of one off and said "Flowa! Mommy, flowa, here!" and handed it to me. And then stopped 2 feet later, to pluck and give me another. And 3 feet later, with another. It totally melted me. He had such joy and love in his eyes, giving me those dandilions that were already, cut off from their life support, starting to wilt. It was God's reminder to me that it's the simple things in life that are the most meaningful. A few minutes later Levi found a bunch of sticks on the ground, having fallen from nearby trees in the storms earlier that day, and picked two for me to have as additional presents. The whole experience just made my day. While I didn't keep the sticks, I did save the dead dandilions. I hope to incorporate them into a scrapbook page about this day, sometime.
The next morning Luke came in and laid with me in bed from 6 to 6:30 (Scott woke early and went to finish resting on the couch to not wake me with his tossing and turning) and at 6:30 said he wanted his water, so I sent him to his room to get it. He came back a minute later, stood in the doorway holding his water, and said, "I'm just gonna go sit in my room a little bit." I said okay, a bit curious why he'd want to do that, since typically in the mornings as soon as he sees the whites of my eyes he's demanding chocolate milk and "a show". After a minute or two of hearing nothing, I got up to see what he was doing, hoping he hadn't decided to go to the playroom and bother Scott yet. I peeked into his room and saw him sitting up tall in his rocking chair, water in hand, rocking himself slowly but deliberately, lost in thought. He looked so sweet.
He noticed me watching him, and so I went into his room and laid down on his floor. He immediately scooted off the chair and came and lay right next to me on the floor, almost snuggled up to me, but not quite. He said, "Mommy, let's talk a little bit." I said, "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" He said, "What's your favorite color?" I said, "Green. What is your favorite color?" He replied, "Blue, and red, and lellow, and purple, and black, and green." And then he got lost in thought so I asked him, "What is your favorite thing to eat?" to which he responded, "Pizza, with pepperonis!" Then I asked, "What is your favorite thing to do outside?" And he said, "Swing on the blue swing!" And I asked, "What about riding on your new tricycle?" He said, "Oh yes. I love my tricycle." It was just such a sweet time. I don't get one-on-one time with him very often anymore and I find that I lose patience with him so often during the day just for pestering his brother, which really isn't his fault, I mean, isn't that what brothers do? But having this early morning quiet time with him just filled my heart with joy and made me realize that I'm too hard on him, that I love him, and he is a genuine gift to me and I just want to love him and protect him and somehow keep him small forever....
I'm such a lucky girl.
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