Priceless (and pictureless) moments

I try to capture all our little moments on camera, but that doesn’t always happen … usually because it’s hard to be fast enough (even if the camera is within reach, which is often isn’t!) and other times because a picture just can’t always catch what I’d like. So here are some of those moments in words …

• This morning when I knew Robbie had slept long enough to need to be fed again soon, I let Jocelyn go into his room. She sat in the rocking chair next to his bed, grabbed a couple of books, and said, “Read baby,” and then proceeded to read him story after story.
• Jocelyn loves stories. Sometimes she wants us to make one up, and sometimes she wants one read. When we make them up, she gets to add parts. Usually she names one girl in the story “Dee” (not sure why!) and one boy “Boy” (very original, don't ya think?). In a story today, Dee and Boy were watching birds who said, according to Jocelyn, “Boo!” You never know what her part in the story will be, and I love waiting to hear what she has to add next!
• Lately when she picks out books, she has taken a liking to Mommy’s books. Last night she had Lee read her about five minutes of Hamlet. Tonight, it was Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments. I wonder what it will be tomorrow.
• This evening as I nursed Robbie, Jocelyn came over and said, “Baby eat.” I confirmed that, yes, he was eating, and then she went to Lee and said, “Big baby eat” and began to lift up his shirt, fully prepared to nurse from daddy. Here’s the conversation that ensued:

Lee: No, Daddy doesn’t have milkies that work like Mommy’s. Mommy’s are for feeding baby Robbie, just like they fed you when you were a little baby like him. [Then, as Jocelyn looked like she was about to come to me in hopes of joining Robbie in nursing…] No, Mommy’s milkies are for Robbie; they’re not multipurpose. Well, actually, they are, but … umm … let’s go back to reading about abortion, because all of a sudden that’s a much easier topic for us to discuss.

Jocelyn’s response to all that: Otay!

And they continued reading about abortion without skipping a beat.
• I think I may have the only two children who hate/hated being swaddled as babies. They just want freedom! At least Jocelyn liked being swaddled from the chest down (as long as her arms were out of blanket) until she was a few weeks old, but Robbie has already rejected any sort of swaddle or blanket. He is currently sleeping in the crib sans blanket, and he’s happy as can be.
• And the moment that inspired this post and that made me think, “Some things you just can’t get on camera” … tonight, as I sat on Jocelyn’s bed, nursing Robbie and waiting for Jocelyn’s bath to be over so we could all pray together, I looked around her room at her scattered toys and down at my lap to our precious new addition, and I was overwhelmed by the goodness of this time. I don’t think words can suffice here either, and the phrase “we’re blessed” just seems to lack the fullness of it all. So, rather than trying to babble on and explain what neither pictures nor words can capture, I’ll just end this post here.