"A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him."
-Pablo Neruda
Kids love cookies. James likes watching Ashlyn eating cookies. There’s not much else to say.
James enjoys giving hugs. To demonstrate, Ashlyn started playing a game where she would go into the kitchen and then run as fast as she could into the living room where I would pick her up and pick her up into the air. James’ way to get in on the game was to give “James hugs” to Ashlyn every time she went into the kitchen. The pictures below are from three separate starts, but I have another 8 or so in addition to these. These are the pictures we will look at when they go through the “I hate you!” stages later.
James has not stopped looking up to his big sister, and given that Ashlyn is a good kid, this is not a bad thing. However, on occasion Ashlyn will do something that we would rather James ignore. For example, Ashlyn loves jumping on her bean bag and James has not quite developed the coordination to do it himself. Ashlyn was jumping far out but decided to pull the bean bag closer to the couch so James could join in. James’ reaction to this was priceless, and we felt pretty good about him not following given the face palm after seeing Ashlyn plop into the bag.
We were wrong. Graceful James, very graceful.
As a safer alternative to face planting, James learned that dragging cats around in bins is a great way to pass the time. Nala, for her part, didn’t seem to mind.
Ashlyn’s best friend came over this weekend and our house turned into a princess runway as the girls kept coming in and out with new outfits on. In between showings, the girls would lock themselves into the book room. James, as a boy, was not allowed. This upset him greatly.
The beauty of a Texas November is that we get at least one weekend where you can throw on the shorts and t-shirts and head to the park (thanks Global Warming™!). James immediately ran off on his own after we got to the park. When we finally made it to the playground area, he was up the climbing wall before we could even get the picnic blanket set up. He’s crazy. While James learned that he can continue to push boundaries without getting seriously injured, Ashlyn learned how to swing on her own. She’s not big enough to go very high, but it’s a start!
We went to Wolfe’s on Sunday to celebrate Aunt Jasmine’s birthday. James immediately started saying “outside” over and over until we caved in and let him loose in the backyard. Ashlyn snuck olives away before dinner, and once the kids were fed and had their cake it was time for Heidi horsy rides. Happy birthday Aunt Jasmine!
