A Little Thing Called Gratitude

A couple days ago some little bath toys that I ordered for free from Pampers' rewards program came in the mail. I showed them to Rose and reminded her that she would have to share them with Simon, and I also reminded her to say thank you. Sometimes she'll spontaneously say "ten-Q," but she often needs a little reminder. Yesterday an incident occurred in which I was able to see what Rose is really, truly thankful for: Princess Pull-Ups. A free sample came in the mail (I'm the queen of freebies, thank you very much) and Rose was right at the mailbox with me when I pulled them out. As soon as I put them in her hand she said thank you, and proceeded to thank me all the way to the car. When we stopped at the grocery store she wanted to take them in, so I agreed, and guess what? She thanked me again. As we were shopping she hugged the pull-ups to her chest and whenever she remembered they were there, she also remembered to thank me. Oh, and she also got a tootsie pop from some Americorps girls advertising outside the store, so she had another reason to rejoice during the shopping trip. At one point she announced, "like candy," and at another, she held up her lollipop and exclaimed, "nice girls." So that's just a little lesson from Rose on the importance of rejoicing in the small things.

Here are some things I'm thankful for lately:

(1) Rose is officially off the bottle! Gasp--did I just admit that she was still getting a bottle before bed every night? Well not anymore! We've replaced it with a sippy cup and she's done just fine for the past couple of weeks.

(2) Simon is becoming more mobile (I think I'm grateful for this...). The first new thing is his "crawling"--he pushes himself up and slightly forward, falls back on his tummy, and repeats the action. His legs are not involved. I hope you can envision what I'm trying to describe. He can also get himself into a sitting position from laying down--this morning I found him sitting up in his crib. And finally, if the conditions are right, he can push himself into a semi-standing position (the thing that he uses to support himself must be low enough--he's usually kind of bent, but on his feet nonetheless).

(3) Baby laughter (see video)