Regan comes up from the basement. Congratulating her, Brinley says, “Good job going to the bathroom.” Then with a thumbs up and a grin, “Great!”
Micah and I have a morning routine making my coffee. I get all the water and beans ready, then he pushes the button that begins the brewing process, starting with the loud bean grinder.
When it starts with a jolt, he gets a wide grin on his face as he turns toward me and starts humming, his pitch rising to match the pitch of the whirling bean grinder. The biggest, most satisfied smile comes as the grinding sound stops.
I’m mowing the lawn out back when I see Brin start gesticulating at me to stop. I turn the mower off and ask her what’s up.
Pointing to the ground, she explains, “Daddy, you almost mowed those kind ants.”
In the morning we are greeted in bed to Brinley struggling with a full gallon of milk in her arms. Huffing she carries it into our room, puffing she carries it out. She just wanted to show us how strong she is.
“Stronger than ever!” she declares.
I’m pushing Brin in the little red car when she tells me to stop. She gets out and started examining a bug.
“What is it, dad?”
“It’s a box elder bug.”
“A box elder bug?”
“Yep, you got it.”
After a beat, “Does it box eld?”
Brin keeps making towers out of LEGOs. The higher they get, the more unstable they become. A particularly high tower falls, which a frustrated Brinley berates, “You are just a darnit tower.”
Micah tears down one of the vertical blinds in the living room. When Sarah sees it she sighs in exasperation, and Brinley says, “See? I told you he was a bad baby.”
Brin measures herself against the wall, then excitedly tells me, “I’m grown-er!”
Often in the melee of trying to entertain the kids and keep the house running, we’ll lose track of where Micah is. When that happens, more often than not we can find him sitting on the floor in his room, quietly reading one of his books.
We pass by a McDonald’s that Brinley has never seen, and she says, “Wow, there are a lot of copies of McDonald’s.”