right now eden is 4 and etta is 16 months. they are at such different developmental points in their growth, its difficult to meet each of them, where they are, with the patience and attention that each one needs and deserves. they are becoming playmates, which is just intoxicating for me. hearing them make each other laugh or watching eden 'read' to etta mae. it gives me genuine joy and contentment. ive always thought it would be lovely to have a big family, lots of kids, lots of automatic friends and companions. lots of people with whom to practice conflict resolution and patience. watching them just affirms that desire.
eden is coming into a new season of having just absurd amounts of attitude. she goes back and forth from being really sweet, very thoughtful, eager to obey and delightful, to giving me a glimpse into the hormonal teenage years. its caught me off guard, i won't lie. i thought maybe we were going to just skip over this entirely since it did not happen in her twos or threes. but its happening now. so for any of you out there who encounter her, now you know.
etta mae also has a really stubborn streak in her, much more so than eden ever did, or even has now. she really wants to fight me some times, and i have had to start teaching her to get self control at a much younger age than i had to teach it to eden. but she is also the most delightful child. really, she smiles most of the time and she is saying alot of words and really communicative (she uses some sign, some kinyarwanda, and some english. its kinda crazy).
recently i took the two of them to washington state for a wedding. i am working on getting a post together about that trip. but ill say now that eden was incredibly helpful and fun to be around, and etta mae was such a trooper considering the long flights and the time changes there and back. it was such a fun adventure just the three agaba girls. and it reminded me again how much i genuinely enjoy hanging out with them.
this summer has been really slow, and ive enjoyed watching the girls in nature, enjoying getting dirty and exhausted by the elements. im usually not at all ready for summer to be over because its been fast and i have not been able to enjoy it the way i wanted. but this summer was slow, and easy and i felt like we lived alot this summer. and im actually ready for it to end and for the gorgeous virginia fall to be ushered in.
robert has been really busy running and training for a few races this fall. the girls love to tease him when he gets home from a run about how sweaty and smelly he is. and they love to practice exercises with him when he is stretching. its always been a big part of our family to support robert as he runs. and we are really looking forward to his races this fall.
on to the season of knitting and pumpkins and apples and scarves!
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