Today

Some days I put out a lot of fires, re-do a lot of chores, teach, re-teach and reinforce.  Some days, I just get to enjoy it...all day long.  

 Thankful for TODAY.

Earlier this week, Jewel opened the door to Trey's room as I was feeding him his bottle and getting ready to tuck him in.  When she saw me, I slowly shook my head no, she quietly backed up and silently closed the door.  As soon as he was in bed I went and found her and praised her for being so quiet and not talking with me since she could see I was trying to put Trey to bed.  She was such a big girl for being patient and tip toeing out to wait until I was done.  She was grinning and glowing after compliment.

Tonight I sat in the dark in Trey's room with his warm little body snug up against me.  He has been letting me sing and rock him, and I take advantage of it every night, staying with him until his breath is long and steady and his head is feeling heavy.

As we rocked, I saw the door open again, Jewel stood behind the partially opened door and held her pajamas out toward me.
"Mom, you help me wif dese?" she asked.
"As soon as I am done tucking Trey in, I will come and help you"
Then something clicked and she remembered the night earlier this week.
"OK" she 'whispered' in the loudest possible whisper. "I will tip toe out of here"
She shut the door without caution, then lay on the floor in front of his room so that she could talk to me under the door.
"I did it, Mom! I waited and tip toed right out dere!"  There was no whisper left in her voice and no head left on my shoulder.
"Thank you, Jewel." I called back.  Then I heard her reporting her good behavior down the stairs to Jordan.

I smiled and shook my head in the dark...I whispered to Trey, "That is affirmation gone south."

Jewel 2012

Again, these pictures are out of order...but anyway, the year of Jewel in review:

Of all my kids, Jewel has changed the most this year.  The changes made for Trey have been physical and expected, the changes made for Jewel have been remarkable.

She really took her time with getting verbal.  At 2 1/2 she had a very limited vocabulary that consisted mostly of one word commands (or demands).  She was still grabbing my hand and leading me all around, gesturing at her needs and desires.  Over the last 12 months, she has acquired what feels like the entire English language.  There was no major breakthrough, no morning that she woke up and all of a sudden was chatting, slowly but surely she gained and gained and gained.  I remember people often telling me that I would miss her silent days once the words came.  I don't.  True to the rest of her nature, Jewel's words are rich with affection and affirmation and delight.  She never lacks expressive descriptions and still regularly couples them with emphatic hand gestures.  All of this is paired with the super cute speech patterns that often accompany this age.  She substitutes the "w" sound for the "l" sound and the "t" sound for the "c" sound.  Her favorite toy right now is a wooden set of cookies that you can place on a cookie sheet and add frosting to (thank you Aunt Daniela for this birthday present, and Melissa and Doug for thinking of this idea).  It is multiple times a day that she comes waltzing into the kitchen with a dress up skirt on, cookie sheet in her hand, head tilted to the side, saying "Mommy, you want some tookies?"  Of course I always do and we dramatically nibble and say 'mmmmm' together over each one.  

With her long hair and soft curls she pretty much always looks like she just stepped out of a painting.  She is cute, but beautiful is a better description as it seems longer lasting and more internal than just a cute phase.  The exterior is just an illustration of what is on the inside.  

She love, love, loves Trey.  Now, this does cause some problem as her affection demands a recipient immediately and she cannot stop until she is satisfied in her expression.  It's really a release for her.  She sees him, is overcome with love for him, and must show him.  It's not until he is pinned under a full body hug with wet kisses on his forehead that she is able to let him up.  Often this is a major disruption to his goals in life which are all about getting places.  She is not phased at all with protesting, in fact it just makes her more determined.  We have had a lot of talks about what it means to "love" someone in a way that makes them feel loved.  Her maturity level isn't quite there yet.  Also, as I have mentioned, there is a lot of her dad in her.  It's hard when he comes home from work, sees her in all her cuteness, is compelled to grab her and kiss her neck and squeeze the life out of her no matter what she is doing...all in the name of love of course, and then expect her to display some self control towards Trey.  Maybe maturity has nothing to do with it.  Maybe it has a lot to do with it :)

As an adult, if you are on the receiving end of her affection, you pretty much feel like the most amazing person on the planet, and the luckiest.  Her hugs are so genuine and intentional and they feel so, so real.  In mid -hug, when she turns her head to your ear and whispers "I wove you", pretty much melting is all that can happen.

Even with all her language gain, sometimes words just won't suffice.  We were at the park once and as I was unloading the picnic lunch she eyed the juice boxes I had packed.  Her eyes got wide.
"You brought those, Mom?"
"Those are for us?"
"For...me?"
Yes, yes and yes...she dropped her arms to her side, closed her eyes to let the facts soak in, and then says.
"I am going to hug you now" and hug she does, tight as can be, wrapped around my neck, making me feel like I could give her a juice box every day for a hug like this.  The great thing is that she is so quick to go to this place of love and appreciation, it doesn't take a huge gesture on our part to get this kind of response.  But, it truly makes us want to do things for her as often as we can without feeling guilt for spoiling her.

We started the year with way too many of these kind of days... I know I shared the make up story last year, I am sure I shared the pudding and powdered sugar day (yes, the same day), we had numerous clogged toilets from various bathroom objects being flushed, countless bottles of lotion and shampoo emptied into glorious piles of mush.  Once an entire stick of butter spread from one side of the table to the other and all over her in the process.  Tactile stimulation is a necessity for her.  Directing this need to playdough or her soft blanky or sand box time is preferential for me.

There is much, much laughter and silliness from her as well.  She and my mom are two peas in a pod and get a serious crack up out of each other.

This year she has also gained a lot of height and started to slim out of her baby chub.  She still has the most delicious cheeks, on both ends :), but her legs are getting leaner, her arms have less squishy rolls...but she still feels like a dream come true to snuggle with.

She love, love, loves Silas.  Most of the time she is willing to engage in whatever activity he is interested in, and feels very special to be included.  He taught her how to play Go Fish.  As he patiently explained and re-explained the rules, she stopped him and looks right in his eyes, grabs his hand and says, "Silas, you're my best friend".  She will not be convinced to do things she does not want to do.  She is willing to do a lot, but if she loses interest or changes her mind on her activity, she rarely will be persuaded to another direction.  I am thankful for this.  It does cause parenting challenges, but I am thankful for it.

So frequently with Jewel I find myself a degree removed from a moment, almost able to watch us interacting.  I struggle with feeling sad at how quickly she grew and changed and that it is still happening.  It's like the commercials where the 5 year old is sitting in the drivers seat of the car asking for the keys.  I can taste that day with her.  Looking into her green eyes and sweet face almost brings me to tears...it's hard to explain, just different than it is with the boys for some reason.

Jewel is not the outdoorsy type...yet.  We keep working on it, but she does not fair well in the wilderness.  Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dirty.  Silas and Trey will be in the back yard for an hour.  I get Jewel dressed for the weather, send her out, and five minutes later she is back at the door starting to take her shoes off.  "I'm done outside, I'm coming in.  It's fweezing out dere."  We still use the double stroller on a regular basis since she can walk all of about five minutes before her legs are hurting, her back is hurting, she is thirsty, hungry and tired.  Every time we are outside, it all "takes too long" in her book.

She started swim lessons on her own this year, meaning I don't have to be in the pool with her.  Watching her swimming is one of the highlights of my week.  She has a well working body, so she can do all of her goals and benchmarks for her class, but it is all about fun and excitement for Jewel.  The other kids in her class are working towards jumping out to the teacher, kicking and rolling onto their backs to rest.  Jewel can do all of these things, but instead of jumping toward the teacher, she jumps to make a big splash.  Instead of kicking for making lateral progression, she kicks to make a big splash.  She rolls right on to her back for her rest, and then when her teacher tells her to turn over and swim the rest of the way, she says "I'm still resting...ahhhhhh" and proceeds to float in the starfish like she is lounging on the beach.  But, then she flips herself over and swims all the way back to the edge without assistance.  Her favorite part, by far, is diving for the toys.  Every time she comes up, she grabs her teacher and dramatically exclaims, "I TOUCHED THE BOTTOM!", even though they do this at every lesson.  They love her, needless to say.

She has also really gotten into pretending in the last few months.  She loves to wrap up her baby, rock her, sing to her, put her to bed, and give her spanks.  It's pretty much hysterical to watch her discipline her baby dolls.  She gets so disgusted and appalled at their inevitable naughtiness.  She always comes to report to me what has happened, but she never holds a grudge.  Soon enough they are snuggled back up together, looking at a book.

Jordan and Jewel have a magnetic relationship.  Sometimes they are totally connected, like the attraction of a magnet to the fridge, she is glued to his side.  They dance throughout the kitchen, snuggle and talk, chase and laugh, and wrestle and hug.  Their need for physical touch is often the draw for the two of them.  But, as is often the case, these dynamic personalities are bound for clashing.  That same little magnet that clung to the fridge with all it's might, can turn around and be so opposed to the fridge that no one can smash her against it...no matter how much they want to.  They are learning more and more about each other (and consequently about their own selves).  Silas and I, the passive, stay out of the way of conflict and danger types, often shake our heads as the other two battle out their wills.

There are few things this little girl loves more than special time with a special treat.  Just last week I was in the bathroom drying my hair and she came in to use the restroom.  From the toilet she says "Mom! We are having special girl time, right now!"  I can only smile and nod...she alone finds bathroom time 'special'.  

We have been enjoying much more special girl time.  Aside from treats, we love going shopping, driving in the car together, and pretty much anything that involves just the girls.

Last fall Jenn and I took the kids roller skating for the first time.  Jewel did not have a ton of success, but how cute can one girl look with her side pony tail and skinny jeans.  For real.

When Trey was first born, she was really too little get into feeding him, holding him and pretending mommy with him.  Now that she is into it, he is getting bigger and less into it.  But, every now and again, he will indulge her and MAKE HER DAY.

Just this month we finally gave up the inky.  One morning she came down stairs with it in her mouth and I reminded her it had to stay in her bed.  She resisted and when I pushed her towards obedience she told me she didn't need it or want it anymore and handed it to me.  So, we jump started into the removal.  It wasn't all at once.  For whatever reason she was fine not having it at nap time, but she could not cope without it at bed time.  So, we did just bed time for a while.  Then she started earning special things for having a bedtime without it.  Now we are totally inky free.  Which, is really remarkable.  It was practically growing onto her face prior to this.  She and I are learning a lot about turning our need for comfort and our dependencies over to God.  We spend a lot of nights talking to God about that.  I don't know how much she gets right now, but I am getting a lot and I feel like we are sharing it.

Also this month she moved into her own room.  It has been a really tough adjustment for her as she has shared with Silas for the majority of her life.  She feels scared more often and has a much harder time falling asleep, and will still ask to go back to his room.  On the other hand, he was very ready for his own big boy space.  Maybe she needs a sister ;)

She took off on the strider this fall also.  I did not see that coming, but like swimming, her body has a natural athleticism to it.  Of course she prefers riding with her baby or in a skirt or barefoot, so she is not concerned with speed in the same way Silas was.  But, she is using it the way it was designed to be used!

All in all, this kid blows me away every day.  From her stylish look and her funny antics and her tight hugs and the sunshine that follows her everywhere she goes, irresistible is probably the most all encompassing word.  We are so proud of the little girl that we have, and incredibly thankful for this Jewel.