My Little Girls

A few nights ago, I sat down with a cup of tea and a pen to write down some New Year's sorts of goals for my children... things I want to focus on this year in my training. Goals for learning, goals for behavior, goals for spiritual understanding. I also wrote down ways I thought I could demonstrate love to them - practically, tangibly, in ways meaningful to their unique personalities. And I thought through the areas I see the Lord already working in them, so that I can encourage their little hearts. As I scribbled thoughts, Erik leafed through the Bible to find special verses for them. It was a sweet, simple time of just thinking about my kids - about who they are, how God has created them so uniquely, and how I can respond faithfully to them as precious disciples. It was fun to sort of mentally describe my little girls. I only did this for the two oldest, but even little Raina has such a sweet, spunky, unique personality. I won't share all my goals with you, but I thought you might enjoy some thoughts on who these little munchkins are!


Raina Abigail. She is almost 11 months. Oh, this little girl is trouble!:) No, truly she is sweet. She has a heart-melting smile with six teeth. She does goofy bouncing sorts of dances when she is excited, and she waves her arms in the air. She screams when she wants something. She had been doing really well with signing, but I think she is getting more impatient lately - especially around food. She loves to eat. Anything. We have yet to find a food she refuses. She loves any kind of soup or casserole. She loves beans. She loves veggies and fruit and bread and eggs and meat and cheese. She is starting to feed herself with a spoon, which is a bit messy, but she concentrates hard and actually takes very dainty bites.

She stands independently for about a minute at times, and she cruises everywhere but has only ever taken one tumbling step. She crawled before six months, and she is fast! One day, Elisa carried her to me as I was washing dishes, and said innocently, "Look what little baby I found at the top of the stairs!" Yikes! :)

She naps twice during the day - both are usually pretty short. Every once in a while she'll sleep an hour and half, but they are typically 30 minutes to an hour. Bedtime is at 6:30, and she will usually sleep until 6:00. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually love having her get up early. I can nurse her, change her, have some quiet time while plays on the floor, and get breakfast started - all before the big girls come downstairs at 7:00. Some days it actually works that smoothly, some days it doesn't. :)

She waves - super cutely - and says a fairly discernible "bye-bye." She also says "ma-ma." Those are about her only two "real" words at this point, although she says a lot of other things! :) We are just beginning to learn "no." She doesn't quite get it. If I give her hand a careful swat, she laughs and claps her hands together.

She is darling and content and pleasant. I also think she is going to be a busy, into everything, slightly strong-willed little peanut. And I love her.

Sadie Pearl. Oh, sweet Sadie girl. She is my helter-skelter, flighty, roly-poly, goofy, grinning, happy, sweet, funny, dancing, dreaming little girl. I don't even know how to describe her. She has this amazing sense of humor and timing. She is not shy - and gladly talks to anyone, big or small. She is absolutely adorable. She has this round barrel tummy that doesn't seem to get any smaller. :) She can't focus on a task to save her life - but she can listen to stories for hours. She loves to help. She loves to give. This munchkin would give you the coat off her back. She is kind. She is silly. She is so amazingly smart in some ways, but she is also just her own person. She doesn't have an interest in learning letters yet, and I have just decided that it is okay! She notices and remembers details I pay no attention to. She articulates herself beautifully and is a fabulous story-teller. She sings. All the time.

In settling squabbles, Sadie is almost always the screaming victim. (In our house, an ungodly reaction receives equal consequences to the perpetrator, but she hasn't figured out that if she doesn't scream, only Elisa is disciplined!:))

She still naps every day for about 2 hours. She got skates and skis this year, and is very balanced and steady on both - but she is slow. It is pretty cute. Little Sadie. You just can't hurry her!

Sadie is wonderful. At the risk of overusing the word, she is really just sweet. Completely, amazingly sweet. She plods through each day at her own happy, slow pace, enjoying the beauty around her and tasting each snowflake. She dances through life - literally. And you know what? I love her, too.

Elisa Joy. My vibrant firstborn. Sometimes I feel like Elisa is the little girl in the old nursery rhyme. Do you remember this one? "There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. And when she was good, she was very very good. And when she was bad, she was horrid." Elisa is amazing. She is determined and strong. She is such a take-charge girl. She loves to create games for her and Sadie to play and direct Sadie on all aspects of play. She loves to take charge of Raina - helping me by feeding her, or just carrying her around the house (which I have just started allowing with certain rules in place.) She loves caring for her dolls and rocking them to sleep. She loves planning pretend parties for all the household "babies." She is sweet and helpful and sometimes we have these incredibly grown-up, pleasant, insightful conversations. She pays attention to everything, and wants to know all the details of whatever Erik and I are discussing. :) She is tender and nurturing and sweetly mature.

However, when she doesn't feel like being tender and sweet (usually in the late afternoons when she still sort of needs a nap, but doesn't take one anymore), she can be a very challenging little girl. She has wild streak that tends towards meanness during those times and I have to really pray for God's wisdom - to speak His truth from His word and try to reach her heart. Sometimes I know that she just needs an extra snuggle and a chapter from Laura Ingalls Wilder. Or - she needs to strap on her skis and do some loops around the yard! :)

For all her leadership tendencies, Elisa is also very shy. She is quiet in unfamiliar settings and we are working on being polite and friendly when meeting new people!

She loves reading with Mom - and is learning to read on her own. She has begun sounding out simple words, and she loves writing. One of her favorite things is to write notes - and she will often be the one to remind me, "Let's write a thank you note to Gramma," or "Let's send a letter to Nana." I think she will be a wonderful encourager in that way. She is learning to sew and she is dying to make her own rag doll like Laura has in the Little House books. She is terrific cross-country skier. She is so fast. I can pull the other girls, and she will match my pace until she tires, then hang on the back and let me pull her.

Last week, we celebrated her 5th birthday. She could not decide what kind of a party to have, and she finally just told me, "I want to have just Gramma and Grampa over for pizza and cupcakes and then go for a night ski." So, we did. She and Sadie got headlamps for Christmas, and she was pretty happy to strap hers on and ski through the moonlit dark. It was a breathtaking night - cold and clear and with a dazzling full moon.

Elisa is a paradox in so many ways, and I am constantly trying to figure out how to train her gently, keep her challenged as my bright and busy oldest child, and just enjoy her strong, endearing personality. And - yup - I love her, too.