Snapshots

Asher likes to lay on the floor on his tummy with his legs kicked up while he flips through the pages of a book. He lines his cars up all in a row and scoots them across the floor, one at a a time, and lines them up again on the other side of the room, crawling on his knees and making slobbery engine noises with his lips. He likes to have the train track built in a loop around him so he can sit in the middle and make the trains talk to each other as they go along ("Choo-choo! Hi daddy train! Choo-choo! Hi baby train!") before they crash into each other. Then he checks them to make sure they aren't injured ("You okay choo-choo?"). He likes to invite me to come play upstairs with him. He scampers as he runs when he is really excited, though it's not really much of a run, more like a rapid tip-toe; I call him Twinkle Toes. He dances in the morning. He calls me Mama. Asher is a meticulous painter. He has chubby cheeks and a constant glimmer in his eye.

Iris loves to color. She is just now starting to make recognizable drawings of complete scenes (that I can recognize without her having to tell me what they are). She is a cuddler, and boundlessly affectionate in every way. She is an observer and a thinker and she always surprises me with the things she knows. Her eyes squint up and she throws her head back when she laughs. She is empathetic. She is so keenly in tune with others' emotions and she is moved to tears easily. She loves to pretend she is a mommy. She is a caregiver. She has a determined nature. She once spent 45 minutes outside playing only with the jump rope and wouldn't put it down till she mastered it. Not in a frustrated way, but just determined. She loves to sing and has a charmingly off-key voice. She digs in the dirt and fancies herself a gardener. She is no longer afraid of (most) (little) bugs. She creates construction paper masterpieces to give as gifts at the daily pretend surprise parties she throws.

My heart sometimes stops and I have to catch my breath as my chest rearranges itself to make room for the overflowing love it has to try to contain.