Sweet Exchanges

Last week, Ian brought over a toy whose base unit has a camera that plugs into the TV and allowed the Salad to sit at their picnic table and watch themselves eat lunch right in our living room. They were tickled pink. Which incidentally is A's favorite color. After the toy was unplugged, M was content to just carry it all over the house. But he's a small boy and there was a cord, so it was downright unruly to lug around. He's crafty though, and recruited help. I watched from the top of the steps as M carried the base unit, A got the middle of the cord and S followed behind, keeping the end of the cord from tripping them up. When they reached the top of the steps safely, M exclaimed enthusiastically, "Great job, everybodies!"

To ease the strain of potty training, we keep potties strewn about the house. 3 in the hall upstairs, 3 in the kitchen and 3 in our playroom. Earlier in the week, S and I were having a catch in the playroom when suddenly she stopped, dropped her drawers and peed on the potty. A happened by while S was cleaning up, peeked in the potty and like the proud big sister, patted S on the back. "Awesome," she said. "Really awesome, S!"

Friday, Aunt J, Unka By and Ian asked us to go watch planes take off and land at a small airport in West Chester. We were glad to oblige. A is still wary in large crowds of people and pressed me for info on the way to Aunt J's.
A: "Lots of peoples there, Mommy?"
Me: "I'm not really sure A. There may be, but you will be surrounded by people who love you, like Aunt J, Unka By, Ian and Mommy. And you will always, always, always have your brother and sister to care for you."
I looked in the rear view mirror to see if my answer had calmed her apprehension about our adventure. I saw sweet S reach for A's hand. She held it for a while and softly said, "Yep."
I saw peace and gratitude come to A. She wanted to let S know she appreciated her gesture. A shoved her almost empty bag of Pringles sticks at S and asked, "You want my last sticks, S?" S gobbled them down quickly, before A could change her mind.