Instead of counting sheep

Amanda is like me when it comes to sleep - she tosses and turns quite a bit. So we started a fun little tradition: we pretend we go on trips. She usually likes to "visit" her relatives in Seattle or the Bay Area. Amanda chose to go to her Grandparents' home. Our description went like this:

{both lying in bed with a squirrely Abigail crawling all over us}

Me: "Okay Amanda, pack your bags. And don't forget your favorite peacock dress."
Amanda: "I have all the bags in the trunk. Did you remember your keys? (She knows me too well)"
Me: "Yes. Can't wait to eat all the goodies we packed!"
Amanda: "The traffic's not bad today, Mom."
Me: "Let's turn off at this rest stop."
Amanda: "What does that sign say?"
Me: "Snake area - caution."
Amanda: "Let's get back in the car."
Me: "Here's Riggins. And that's the Salmon River."

I try to evoke as much imagery as possible, while working on vocabulary and pretend play. She really enjoys it, and relaxes enough to let her body wind down into sweet slumber.

The next day, Amanda decided to make a map of our "trip", so she sketched one in pen.


Once I picked up my jaw from the ground, I scanned it and we colorized it in Photoshop. Here is the resultant map:


Tonight, I get to choose the trip destination. And I think it will be the Greek Isles. :grin: Where will you go with your kids today?

Bejeweled steps

"Finally, I can tell you the secret," Amanda said, as she pushed something into my hand. A folded paper and something wrapped in colored tissue. "Happy Mother's Day," she sang in a cloyingly sweet pitch.

This is what she presented me with:






Backtrack a few days: Amanda came up to me, as if taking my order, with notepad and pencil in hand, and asked, "What colors do you like?" I told her I currently like blue, green, and white. She wrote furiously, pausing only to ask me how to spell the word white. Then she scurried off and shut her bedroom door. "It's a secret! Don't come in here!"

She had asked so she could make my Mother's Day gift.

When I opened the card, she had drawn this little picture of us:


Abigail also presented me with a gift of her own. She suddenly began walking. And walking. And walking! At almost 15 months, she has finally found her wings. :grin: I now anoint myself CHASER of TODDLER.

The catch in my throat has not gone away since this spectacular Mother's Day. And I hope it never will.