I love this day

Today we were talking about all the traffic on the road, so I was explaining about people going to work and driving to lunch, and then home to their families. We talked about how some people don't drive to work, like some mommies and some grandparents, and some lucky daddies who work at their house. Addison thought about this and said, "Mr. Tom doesn't have a family at his house." Tom is our elderly neighbor, so I assume the "grandparents" comment triggered this thought. I told Addie that he did have a family, and that his kids were all grown up and lived in their own houses with their husbands and wives and kids. She asked what a husband was, so I told her that when she grows up she will meet a nice man and get married and he will be her husband. And then comes the classic comment: " Who is my husband? Will Baby Ryan be my husband?"

Today we played with cousin Hunter, who we hadn't seen in a long time, and then went to Chick Fil A for a play/lunch date with some MOPS girls. Addie fell right in with two four year old girls and the three of them made up all sorts of games to play in the slides. After lunch, Addie and I carefully refilled our bird feeders and talked about all the different birds and squirrels, and then we came in, got chairs, and camped out in front of the big window to watch the birds eat. Later, I decided it was finally time to get the Halloween pumpkins off the front walkway (they were surprisingly un-rotted), so I had Addie grab the small one and I got the big one, and we went out back with a big knife and cut the pumpkins apart. She helped me scatter seeds all along the back fenceline (Attention Matt: Don't mow the plants on the back fenceline) and then scuff them into the dirt/leaf mixture. There is a tiny chance that we might have some pumpkins growing. I showed her all the pumpkin parts and she said she wanted to make a pumpkin pie. It turned out that I had a can of evaporated milk and a can of pumpkin, but I told her we could make one later. She said, "Ok, we'll make it later. When we go back into the house." I smiled, and started to tell her what I really meant, and then thought, "Why not?" So we came in and made a crustless pumpkin pie. I love this age, where I can tell her to mix the stuff up and then pour the (dry) ingredients into the big bowl, and I don't have to hover over her every second. She concentrated very hard. Then she watched me make bows, and when Ryan got up, she played nice with him. We all were being silly and threw the new diapers all over the playroom (and then picked them up). Then they both spun around in my chair and watched with fascination as I pulled out all the St. Patrick's Day stuff. Addie is now attempting to paint a shamrock plastic suncatcher and Ryan has rounded up no less than three sippy cups (he can reach on the counters now) and is pushing them around in a basket.

My house is a mess, but you know what? I can pick it up when they go to sleep. Seeing how special Addie feels and how eager she is to shadow my every move makes me so happy. A lot of the time I'm just not able to devote much time to letting her help and explaining things, and she's not always interested in what I'm doing, but sometimes it seems like we have so much in common. Being alike can cause issues, and I know it will later on, but right now, I love having a mini-me!