Sweet Emotion

I can see that in 5-10 years, the end of May will mark the beginning of a schools-out, all-summer celebration.  But as we straddle the school years of lives, time continues uninterrupted, which is fine, because we have just about all the celebration we need: behold the Joseph sisters rejoicing over the resurrection of Christ:

Ah yes, the Sabbath.  A day rest in the Spirit, time in the Word, and delayed nap times.  We didn't leave town for Easter, but instead enjoyed the day at home and had lunch/dinner with the Damstra's.  Unfortunately, lunch/dinner by definition starts at the same time or later than an early afternoon nap.  I like to think of the screams and tears of our daughters as an enormous reservoir of water being held back by a small dam.  Over time that dam needs to undergo careful maintenance and renewal via naps or else it will burst, creating loud noise, waterworks, and a path of destruction.  Fortunately, as Elia sings, "Jesus loves the little children," and He will one day wipe away every tear.

On the other side of emotion, Elia loves dogs, and we've had the joy of "Tsayboo," the Calhoun's dog, joining us for a few days here and there.  Sable is small and apparently a riot if you're 2! 

Elia also loves bounce houses, and she prays about them almost every day.  Our church owns 2 bounce houses and usually once a month, Elia revels in the joy of jumping and dancing wildly with little to no physiogravitational consequences.

But Elia also loves puzzles (and puzzle starts with "P" so maybe P is her favorite letter -- quoting Elmo)!  Sometimes she can't choose a favorite so she will do them all at the same time.  This use to be a point of contention, both due to her inability to do the puzzles and her general inadequacy in toy clean up, but now she can do even her 24-piece jigsaw puzzles all by herself and make quick work of the rest!

While Elia is about overly social as is legally permissible, she also knows who her real friends are.  They're the ones who she hugs and screams at, whose toys she steals and who steal right back, who she spends all day talking about and praying for but can only tolerate for about 15 minutes at a time without tears.

Then there's So.  Baby So models a life simplicity for us when we can't seem to find it in our toddler.  She is very calm, able to lie on her back forever (or even her tummy for up to 10 minutes!) listening to the same 20 minute playlist and twiddling plastic.  She generally needs only sleep and milk, and the occasional smiling family member and/or cuddler.  She is a bit smaller than Nugget for her age but still rocks the same general wardrobe and occasionally gets compared with her Mega-me in Instragram pooping pics:

 

Her life is about to leave simplicity, as she's edging into the unknown waters of semi-solid foods, sitting up, locomotion, and targeted communication.  But for now, she sleeps, she wakes, and she dreams about going to college like her Aunt Courtney.

Together, they form the likely duo, the beloved of their parents (pictured here on Mother's Day) and the full spectrum of their emotional capacity.  This, the girls will surely continue to stretch throughout their childhood years just as their parents will continue to push both to new levels of awesomeness.