For about the first 18 months of Makena's life, she has really been a "momma's girl." I think a lot of that stems from the fact that Lena has been the primary parent in her life. When it was just Karis, we both shared the responsibilities (and enjoyed them, too). But when Makena was born, we split the load to make it easier. As such, Lena started with Makena because of the breast-feeding and then stayed with Makena for nighttime routines.
How that plays out is that whenever I have tried to ask Makena to come to me for hugs, kisses, whatever, so typically does a 180 and runs directly to Lena. Funny for me at first, but now it has been getting old. Well, this past month Makena has turned a corner and now will come to me (un-baited even!) and give hugs and kisses. Ah, to finally feel the love in return. I was reading a friend's blog recently about their adoption. He noted that their daughter when first meeting the couple would get scared of her soon-to-be dad and would even cry. I wanted to say, "I know how you feel" so that he wouldn't think it's always hunky dory with a natural born child. But I truly don't know how he feels. And, she has warmed up to him now, too.
We sold my Mazda recently. We're going to try the one-car family thing. I have always wanted to be a more faithful motorcyclist, and now I have that opportunity. The first week after it sold, I got cold in a nice downpour on the way to a morning coffee. I had packed my rain gear, liner, and bags covers because there was a chance it could rain late that night. But by 7:15 am I was all ready drenched. I survived without melting. Now that it is going to start getting colder and raining, we'll see how well I hold up in the daily commute. For the record, it is only 1.5 miles to work for me. I can bicycle, walk, or even catch a ride from several folks.
Lena worked two days in a row this week. The second day I returned home to relieve daycare, it was the second consecutive hot day (92 and then 96 or so) and the girls hadn't been outside either day. To escape their craziness of being couped up in the house for two days, I decided to take them out for dinner and ice cream. Then I realized I didn't have the car. Fun! I couldn't go back on my promise at this point. I hooked up the carrier behind the bicycle and spent what seemed like forever getting everyone geared up and buckled in for the ride. Makena had a tough go of it because of her position in the carrier, her helmet gets pushed forward down into her face. She whined the whole ride while trying to force it up off her face (Bless her heart!). They loved the Chick-Fil-A nuggets and ice cream cones. Makena actually downed hers before Karis. Karis took her sweet little time taking licks and then the tiniest bites. Of course, she didn't speed up even after my repeated requests as it was getting dark. Thankfully, there is only a small portion of the ride on streets because Irvine has some great bicycle trails. Although, I may need to invest in lights to see and be seen.
Our neighbor graciously donates her sons' books to our girls. There are a lot of Dr. Seuss books. "Hop on Pop" was confirmation for both Karis and Makena that it's fun bouncing on Daddy's belly after a meal even when I urge them to stop. At bedtime last week, Makena showed a bit of her creativity. We were all lying down in Karis' room at bedtime. Makena has the shortest attention span when we read books, so we didn't think anything of it when she got up and started moseying about. But that is when she walked over to Karis, quickly sat down on Karis' stomach, and then proceeded to bounce on Karis. The look on Karis' face was classic. Wish we had it on film. We all had a good hearty laugh at that one.
On the flip side of that fun, Makena likes to do everything sister does even if it means both girls having the croup for the past week. Makena is going on a week and a half and still has a lingering noise in her chest. Seeing doctor on Monday. Karis was sitting atop her mini couch that was on top of our couch. Karis got down to do something when Makena tried to climb up the "second story" couch. Being the good Dad I am (foreseeing the catastrophic consequences if I were to let her climb it), I removed the kids' couch and set it on the floor. With it now gone, Makena decides to run back and forth on the couch. About her third trip, she doesn't slow down enough and bangs into the cushion with her body, her melon head keeps moving forward as it was taller than the cushion and has yet to meet resistance. The fluffy cushion responds and with the combo of the head still moving forward thrusts Makena up and over the couch. She landed pretty darn hard. That was the longest that Lena and I had witnessed her cry. She seems to have only bitten her lip with no other lasting marks (THANKFULLY). Such an awful feeling not being able to protect your child (far worse than hearing that awful "seal bark" cough from their little bodies when the have the croup).
Here's a quotation I ran across that I found valuable.
"Most kids hear what you say;
some kids do what you say;
but all kids do what you do."
Kathleen Casey Theisa
