My daughter is the funniest.
My daughter is the smartest.
My daughter is the brightest.
My daughter is the friendliest.
The smiley-est.
The orneriest.
The strongest.
The silliest.
My daughter is the most independent.
The most defiant.
The most confidant and care-free.
Lexi is 2 ½, and she is already all these things.
To me anyway. To us. To our family.
She is so beautiful from the inside out.
And not because she’s obedient, or attractive, or doll-like.
Not because she is “girly”, or feminine, or quiet.
She is some of those things, and she is not some of those things.
But she is beautiful because she is purely her.
Just Lexi.
Her defiance can be exasperating, but also entertaining, and her daddy and I will laugh quietly to each other once she’s in time out and can’t see us.
Her silliness is sometimes incomprehensible, but beautiful to watch, and often the meaning or reason for it comes later, and show us her intelligence.
Her confidence and inner strength is so fantastic. I can’t imagine having it myself. I hope she holds onto that forever.
Her intelligence is beyond her years. Literally. Her speech, motor-skills, dexterity, all are beyond her age group. And she uses them to simply.have.fun.
Yes she is smart. Extra smart.
She can formulate full paragraphs, tell stories, explain to you why she is upset and how she thinks you should fix it. She can tell you she’s sorry and why she’s sorry.
She can count to 13, point out the letters O, C, W, S, and E in any random word or sentence, and she’s learning more all the time. Here at home with us.
So despite all of this, I have no intention of putting her in some fast-moving advanced-placement program as early as possible.
I want her to enjoy her childhood by just enjoying it.
Her smiley, scrunchy, angry, wide-eyed face brings more joy to my life than I’d ever thought that there would be.
And I love her.
For every smile, every scowl, every expression of false-surprise. For every tear, tantrum, and laugh. For every moment of joy or frustration she brings to us.
For the good and the bad.
A child will change your life forever.
I love mine.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Load, Move, Unload…in 2 days
It took us roughly 1 week to pack up our house. About 6 days. Which was mostly out of our unwillingness to stay active at it for more than a few hours at a time. We just didn’t want to say goodbye to our house.
Or to our home town, our family, our friends, the places we grew up, the people of our childhood…and the sooner the house was empty the sooner that would all be a reality.
So we took our sweet time.
We packed books & movies the first night.
We took the second night off because we couldn’t figure out what to pack next.
Went and bought more boxes on the third day, and packed up anything hanging on the walls from pictures to shelves to sconces.
Started getting rid of stuff we didn’t need on the fourth day. Like Lexi’s baby-sized Halloween costumes, which I set aside for a friend, and gifts reluctantly accepted and never used, which went to the goodwill.
On the fifth day we started getting serious. We set aside clothes and bathroom necessities for a night at my mother’s house, and got down to business.
We packed up our room. All of our clothes, and everything that had been sitting on our dresser, nightstands, or shelves went into boxes.
We packed up the kitchen, all pots and pans, all silverware but the plastic, all plates but the paper, all our portable appliances like the coffee maker, the toaster, the blender. The bake ware, the glassware, etc. etc.
We packed up everything but Lexi’s room, because she can only sleep if everything in her room is where it should be.
On the sixth day we took a break. We watched movies. We had dinner at my mom’s (where they gifted us with money, out of the awesomeness of their hearts). And we went to a movie with friends (the Hangover 2, which was pretty funny, even though it followed the same pattern as the first one).
And then the real work started!
The truck came on the 7th day. And we filled it with boxes, our couches, our tables…And we realized we weren’t quite as packed up as we’d thought we were. Which was an unpleasant realization!)
We still had all of lexis room, her toys, clothes, wardrobe, bed, and bedding. We had our TV, our xbox360, our internet router. Our bed and bedding. We had to disassemble the dining room table to load it. The list goes on, and it was a mess.
Lucky for us (!) Cameron’s family paid their housekeeper to come clean our house for us instead of their own. I’ve never had someone else clean my house before! It was fantastic. She did a great job. And it took 3 hours of cleaning off of my to-do list that day.
They also paid a family friend to come mow our lawn for us, which was awesome.
And my mom and step-dad decided to surprise me with a new cell-phone.
Have I mentioned our families are super awesome??
Once the truck was loaded we took it to my parent’s house where we spent the night.
The next day we drove the 2 ½ hours here, unloaded the truck, and my family stayed to help unpack for a while before leaving to go home.
So now here we are. In a new town, with new people. In an apartment, soon to be with a room mate. With 1,100$ in bills, and currently no job.
Life is scary, and new, and exciting. Stay tuned!
Or to our home town, our family, our friends, the places we grew up, the people of our childhood…and the sooner the house was empty the sooner that would all be a reality.
So we took our sweet time.
We packed books & movies the first night.
We took the second night off because we couldn’t figure out what to pack next.
Went and bought more boxes on the third day, and packed up anything hanging on the walls from pictures to shelves to sconces.
Started getting rid of stuff we didn’t need on the fourth day. Like Lexi’s baby-sized Halloween costumes, which I set aside for a friend, and gifts reluctantly accepted and never used, which went to the goodwill.
On the fifth day we started getting serious. We set aside clothes and bathroom necessities for a night at my mother’s house, and got down to business.
We packed up our room. All of our clothes, and everything that had been sitting on our dresser, nightstands, or shelves went into boxes.
We packed up the kitchen, all pots and pans, all silverware but the plastic, all plates but the paper, all our portable appliances like the coffee maker, the toaster, the blender. The bake ware, the glassware, etc. etc.
We packed up everything but Lexi’s room, because she can only sleep if everything in her room is where it should be.
On the sixth day we took a break. We watched movies. We had dinner at my mom’s (where they gifted us with money, out of the awesomeness of their hearts). And we went to a movie with friends (the Hangover 2, which was pretty funny, even though it followed the same pattern as the first one).
And then the real work started!
The truck came on the 7th day. And we filled it with boxes, our couches, our tables…And we realized we weren’t quite as packed up as we’d thought we were. Which was an unpleasant realization!)
We still had all of lexis room, her toys, clothes, wardrobe, bed, and bedding. We had our TV, our xbox360, our internet router. Our bed and bedding. We had to disassemble the dining room table to load it. The list goes on, and it was a mess.
Lucky for us (!) Cameron’s family paid their housekeeper to come clean our house for us instead of their own. I’ve never had someone else clean my house before! It was fantastic. She did a great job. And it took 3 hours of cleaning off of my to-do list that day.
They also paid a family friend to come mow our lawn for us, which was awesome.
And my mom and step-dad decided to surprise me with a new cell-phone.
Have I mentioned our families are super awesome??
Once the truck was loaded we took it to my parent’s house where we spent the night.
The next day we drove the 2 ½ hours here, unloaded the truck, and my family stayed to help unpack for a while before leaving to go home.
So now here we are. In a new town, with new people. In an apartment, soon to be with a room mate. With 1,100$ in bills, and currently no job.
Life is scary, and new, and exciting. Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)