It has been a strange time for us lately.
Following the birth of Samuel, Darren made a whole lot of trips. He is currently away in CA with Jesse and will board a plane to come home tomorrow. He does normally do a bit of travelling but his has been a bit excessive due to him needing to fit his work trips in before we surrender our passports with our visa applications in August. Our friends were without their passports for 4 months so we need to be prepared for the fact that this could happen.
Knowing that it would be a bit much for me to handle all 3 kids while he was away, Darren thought that it would be good if Luci accompanied him on his Kenya trip and Jesse accompany him on his CA. This has worked out great! It's been an experiment in seeing how our kids are without each other and enjoying them in those forms. Luci apparently never had an attitude difficulty at all on the whole of her Kenya trip. It was a bit weird here at home because I was so used to relating to Jesse in the presence of Luci. (In her absence I would take on conversing with Jesse or reaching out to do something with him and sometimes it just felt like we ended up irritated at each other.) Darren is now with him in CA and discovering (well D's pretty much suspected it all along) that Jesse is quite an introvert, not saying much during car trips (except to express that he is sick) and hunkering down to do art while being present in some of D's meetings. (I talked to my friend Mariah on the phone today in CA and she said she's been thinking of Darren and Jesse as twins because they look and act so much alike.) I've been at home with Luci surrounded by her almost constant joy--I almost can't believe I'm saying that because she can really give us a hard time, but without her most accessible rival J she is pretty much happy all the time. Perhaps the down side to the happiness is the level of enthusiasm that goes into her chattering from morning to night.
I feel like we have a new life to start with Samuel when he comes home. Samuel has really changed in the last 2 weeks while D has been away. He is really tracking with people. If they are moving he is watching and if they are conversing with him, he is doing his best to take in all in, often cooing things back. He loves when Luci sings and dances for him. Now there's a person who can fully appreciate Luci's exuberance, he just smiles and smiles at her and thinks she's beautiful I'm sure--everything Luci could hope for, an audience that adores her.
We've enjoyed experiencing our kids as separate people and it makes it exciting to think about what they will be like when they are older.
1 comment:
Aw! That's so great. I'm sure the kids love getting the one-on-one (or two-on-one) attention, and love learning who you are in different contexts too.
Isn't it amazing how different we act and are in different environments? It kind of makes me nervous because some relationships (*cough* my marriage *cough*) are hanging in a balance of positive circumstances. Too many stresses and the ugly in me really comes out. And it kind of makes me excited because some relationships (see above parenthesis) never really get old because all we have to do is put ourselves in a new situation to see a whole different side of each other. I love how this applies to parents, friends, kids, etc, etc, and it doesn't really stop happening.
I love that you guys are experimenting with different circumstances to find the happiest ones. You're smart! And inspiring!
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