It's the little things: Slow

Last night we went to Ryan's grandparent's for the evening. Great-grandparents' houses are good for lots of this:

Because the rocks in Mimi and Poppy's driveway are far more entertaining than the rocks in our driveway. And the rusty, old tractor and flat playskool wagon are a hundred times better than the new, noisy, motorized one that sits in Declan's room, and the big, roomy radio flyer in the back yard. Grandparent's homes are just fun. The new-ness is fun. The old-ness is fun. Mimi and Poppy are fun and our kids love them.

Quinn is something else. It didn't matter how many times I moved her from the gravel to the grass, she was back in that gravel before I could recover from her back-arching demand to get back to that gravel. She sat there, literally as if she were in the snow, and fanned her legs back and forth over the rocks. She was loving it. She crawled on them, played in them, filled wagons with them. She also tried numerous times to walk across them. Then the thought of her smooth, baby-soft skin becoming rough and callous, hit me and I dug out a pair of winter sweat pants from the cargo net in the back of our van in order to salvage the last bits of baby-ness on this girl.

Today was a good day for this:

Declan slipped in the pool the other night, so he is no longer a fan. The sprinkler on the other hand, he loves. Smart boy--he digs the things he can control.
The kids had a fun day playing with Addie and Jack who were over for the morning and early afternoon. Isabella can hang. She thinks she's such a big kid, when big kids are around. Not Declan though. He held his place at the bottom of the totem pole, and hung with me most of the time. That's good though. Isabella practiced some independence and Declan got some one on one, which he always loves, craves, and needs.

Tonight, Isabella got her one on one. I had told her the other day that I would do something special, just the two of us, because I was so proud of her (for many reasons....but proud, nonetheless). Isabella and I, rarely have lengths of time alone. If Ryan takes Declan, I take Isabella, but I also take Quinn. Isabella likes that too, because she likes the idea of "us girls." But the older Quinn gets, the more 'attention' she requires. So tonight, it was just her. No Quinn, No Declan. Just Isabella.
She wanted to go to Willy's. That sentence makes me laugh. The girl is obsessed with Willy's...only because we drive by it, she sees a sign with an ice cream cone, and convienently it is always "closed." Luckily she hasn't learned to recognize that flourescent OPEN sign yet... She told me that she wanted to go to "that ice cream place by sharp sharpers," so that's where we went. Isabella had her first rootbeer float, which she loved, adored, savored, and held onto. Mostly, because she had a soda can and was allowed to have it. And she got to pour it into the ice cream. And the cup was half her size. And she was in heaven.

She cried when we had to go home. We need another date soon. Really soon. Four year olds are pretty cool.

Okay, okay. I won't lie and pretend that she cried because our date was over. She cried because mom met us there, gave me this:

(which I love, and I just looked at the pictures so far...my mom listens so well. All I said was, in passing, there is a book out about photographing your kids that looks really good...and wa-la...it's here, wrapped and everything. Isabella said, 'is it your birthday again?') took us to get pizza, gushed over her first grandbaby and then drove us back to our car. Isabella wanted her to "spend the night with her in her big bed that has so much space..." So that's the main reason that she cried. I admit.

Then we had to go and do this:

I'm pretty sure most moms think their kids have the cutest bellybuttons. I know I do. That little bump that sticks out...half inny, half outty. She loves the story of how her belly button was attached to a cord that was attached to me. Loves looking at newborn pictures where her umbilical stump was still attached. And still loves being attached. Pretty sure that's why she loves that story so much.