April 15

Chris' mom came to play with us today! The girls had so much fun with her, and even Eli behaved charmingly. He smiled, cooed, and stared at his Grandmother before falling asleep and staying asleep in his swing. It was amazing.

Daisy and Gayle are both puzzle aficionados, so they bonded over this puzzle that Gayle got as part of Daisy's Easter gifts. 

Finished! Daisy was worried that the puzzle was falling apart.

The girls had so much fun with Grandmother, and Caleb was disappointed to miss her. Maybe next time.

Meanwhile, much later... 

While I made dinner, the kids went out to play in the back yard. (Caleb might have forced his sisters to join him out there because he wanted to try out the new boomerang that was in his Easter bag.) As I watched out the kitchen window, I noticed how well Daisy was swinging. She was pumping her legs and propelling herself like a seasoned swinger. But even better, from my kitchen window vantage point I could tell that she was so proud of herself. The look on her face could only be described as triumphant. She had figured out how to swing, and she was good at it, and she was doing it! For once, she was in control, and it felt amazing.

I immediately stopped what I was doing, grabbed my camera, and headed into the back yard. I had to capture that face.

Boom.

My strong, determined, triumphant girl.

I am so proud of who Daisy is. 

Yes, she is often the victim of middle-child-itis; when I try to think of what she likes or is interested in, it is usually whatever Caleb likes. But her personality is hers alone. She is thoughtful, intuitive, compassionate, bold, affectionate, shy, tender, stubborn, loving, sensitive, determined... I am blessed that she is mine, even if she is a stinker nearly half the time, and even if she routinely chooses to sit alone for 45 minutes instead of apologizing and resuming life as normal.

Also, I am thoroughly convinced that Daisy is a direct result of all the times my mom angrily said to me, "I hope that some day you have a daughter just like you!" This girl will be a challenge, but I know the hard parts will be worth it in the end.

Another day, another nap time selfie. All of the times I have the big camera out are times that Eli is either sleeping or wrapped onto me, so I just don't get good pictures of him. But this is us during nap time today. What a sweet baby he is. (When he's not spitting up all over me.)

After dinner, we headed up to the library to pick up a book I had on reserve.

These kids love the library.

Lily loves running around, climbing on chairs, and yelling in the library.

So it goes.