1. A few evenings ago, Rachel told me ‘thank you’ after she finished nursing.
2. We had dinner at a friend’s house a few days ago, and while we were sitting in the living room afterwards I nursed Rachel. Apparently it wasn’t enough, so she went to S who was sitting on the floor, plopped into his lap, leaned back in a nursing position and frantically asked to nurse.
3. Looking out the upstairs window and seeing that my green beans all sprouted over the weekend! Also, Rachel ate her peas tonight.
1. S let Rachel have his sunglasses while we were grocery shopping. When he asked for them back, she replied in her sweet little toddler voice, ‘no… sorry’.
2. Getting Rachel after she wakes up from her nap, she rubs her eyes and says ‘tired’.
3. Making a terrible batch of dinner rolls, and not minding, because they are just dinner rolls and I can try again.
1. Weekend early morning snuggles and chats with Rachel. I have to cut these short during the week on days I need the car so we can be ready to leave with S, so I really look forward to the relaxed weekend mornings. It makes me not mind her 5:45 wakeup so much.
2. Watching Rachel walk around carrying ‘Dolly’, her soft doll which is almost as tall as her. She hugs her and pretends to feed her.
3. I sneezed during church this morning and immediately after came a fake sneeze ‘ah choo’ from Rachel.
1. The lone red tulip in front of our neighbor’s house.
2. Rachel wanting her play mat that she hasn’t used since she became mobile.
3. The Great British Baking Show. I’ve only seen one episode, but what fun to watch. I don’t generally like reality shows, but I’m making an exception for this one.
1. Two little finches landing on the garden fence while I work on the weeding and Rachel putters around. It felt like a secret garden moment.
2. Playing ‘boo’ with Rachel. We race back and forth and around from the kitchen to the living room, trying to surprise each other. Her laugh is contagious.
3. My afternoon slump has been less slumpy since I’ve been spending more time outside on walks and gardening.
1. Seeing a cardinal pair flit through the back yard.
2. Rachel’s happiness that I was wearing a sun hat too.
3. Rachel wanting me to put the two dandelions I picked for her back where I found them.
1. Looking over our backyard to see what work needs to be done. ‘Didn’t we have four dying pine trees here?’ I ask. We look for the missing one and see that it fell over the bank into the creek bed. The roots were so shallow, or so rotted, the earth was barely disturbed.
2. The new word today is ‘ant’. We get bothered by black ants during the non winter months, and I was especially annoyed with them at lunchtime. I got out the little vacuum and am afraid I kind of messed up Rachel’s lunch with the distraction. She was pretty excited about it all and kept shouting out ‘ain, ain’.
3. Rachel was having a difficult time with bedtime ever since our trip a few weeks ago, but the last two nights, she turns out the light while being held, listens as one of us chats with her for a bit, then reaches for her crib to be put in it. Such peaceful bedtimes are nice.
1. Telling Rachel it was almost time to go inside for her nap, and her taking off across the lawn. Only she’s so unsure of herself when she walks on grass, she’s moving slower than a shuffle, so I have no problem catching her.
2. Vanilla ice cream topped with cherry coulis.
3. Rachel saying ‘sit, sit’, then backing up to sit on anything she can, water bottles still bundled together in plastic, her toy basket, my leg. Sometimes she misses and goes for a slow tumble.
1. ‘We’re aiming to leave by 7, right?’ asked S the night before a recent road trip. ‘Ha!’ I reply.
2. Rachel’s excitement over seeing a great Dane coming through the hotel lobby.
3. Seeing a hawk soaring high on the drive home.
1. Getting to know the next door neighbor a little bit this afternoon. Rachel stood behind me clinging to my legs while we chatted.
2. Rachel missed her morning nap this morning because of the funeral, so this afternoon, she napped an hour and forty minutes in her crib, woke up sad, and napped another hour on me. It’s been a few months since she’s slept on me like that, and I fully enjoyed it.
3. Getting out in the sun for a while this afternoon, watching for dogs for Rachel to see, hearing her try to imitate the birds she heard.
The Habits of Myrtle the Turtle 