Of a Big Weekend (in the Little Things)

On top of turning four this past week (a fact she shares with everyone she meets) and starting pre-school (she loves it!), our little girl hit another new milestone this weekend - playing her first video game.  She has held the Wii remotes in her hands before.  She has pretended to play Sonic the Hedgehog and she has dabbled with Dr. Mario, but this weekend, as the four of us old enough to push buttons with intention gathered in the living room to play Mario Party, this was the first time she was actively involved in playing the game - clicking "Yes" or "No" (after asking Mommy), punching the little dice block and even playing the Mini-Games.  Granted, she played like a four-year-old and won't be schooling Daddy anytime soon, but she's hooked.

Emmett's weekend milestone was his first haircut without screaming and crying (well, his first since he's figured out what a haircut is) - and he did it without even being able to watch Blue's Clues (thanks to a lack of functioning Netflix), though Kermit and his pals seemed a suitable substitute.  It may have required Daddy sitting in front of him and offering one marshmallow at a time so long as he wasn't crying, but the important thing is I was able to clip his hairs as close to his head as possible (so as to extend the time between trims) without him jerking away or endangering his ears (though there was one unfortunate snip along his forehead that leaves him looking "like he got in a fight with a weed-eater," as his Daddy put it).  There were limited tears and few screams.  We all count this as a win.

For his part, Joey has learned to sit up all on his own - from tummy to bottom.  When he performed this task earlier this week, Philip and I just looked at each other asking, "Is this new?"  Because sometimes the milestones pass and we just don't notice.  It's not exactly like little Joseph is announcing, "Hey, world, I can sit up now!"  But we're taking notice as best we can and we're pretty proud.  Of course, he remains on the precipice of being able to crawl on hands and knees (he's SO close), but he's also expressing an interest in walking as he'll take very determined steps if Mommy and Daddy hold him up enough to try.  Again, a marked difference between he and his brother, who simply tucked his feet up under him if ever we tried to hold his hands up - even at the point when he was twice his brother's current age.  That's our Joseph - he's taking this world by storm.

And that's how the cookie crumbles.

1,000 Gifts:
888. Ditching the excess
889. Re-prioritizing
890. Being challenged to use discipline in our Spiritual Gifts
891. Transparency
892. A wealth of resources at my finger-tips
893. Her giving her brother kisses and him all smiles because of it
894. Being the High-Flair Pair and Tomboy Trouble with my girl
895. High-Fives on every turn
896. Her helping Daddy make pancakes
897. Corn popping fresh for movie night


Also, this guy turned seven months old this week!