Why blog? I don't even have a facebook account...it feels like it makes life so public. But then--blogging is kind of like a diary, isn't it? It makes me feel a little like Doogie Houser at the end of the day--collecting my thoughts and putting them down. I don't want to blog because I want my life to be public (though I don't mind wearing my heart on my sleeve, most of the time) or because I'm a narcissist, but because these days of our young family are so precious I don't want to lose them to a faulty memory. This time, this stage, these moments truly are 'a time to keep', and blogging is simply the most convenient way to keep them and share them.

I really didn't think I'd ever start a blog...but now that Mac has stopped calling firetrucks "fire knuckles" (he now calls them firetrucks, and I'm so sad!), I realize I'll forget that he ever did that if I don't write it down. So, the blog begins. Welcome.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

My Tender Hearted One

Arden has a tender little heart. Unless something really changes, I can tell that she will be shy.

I've known this for awhile about her--mostly in contrast to Mac. I remember at Mac's 4 month (or was it 2 month??) check up, the doctor commenting about what an engaging personality he had. He was the baby that loved attention--from anyone--and seemed to know how to make himself appear in the cutest possible way (smiling, tilting his head, etc.), so that anyone around would notice him and talk with him.

When Arden was a few weeks old--just starting to engage, smile and interact--she was so different from her older brother already. She loved me, Brad and Mac, but was a little more careful around others. I began to suspect that she might be a shy one...

My hunches proved right. Now, at 6 months, she rarely smiles at strangers but instead looks to make sure I am there. At youth group this week, she burst into tears and wails when the high school girls began to talk to her. (She was completely overwhelmed--where her brother, in the same situation at that age--ate the attention right up.)

It's hard to see her so upset--but it's so sweet too, because she needs us. Brad, Mac and I are so smitten with her!

(By the way--Mac's first unprompted "I love you" was last week, to Arden. "I love you baby! I love you baby!" They are like 2 peas in a pod. His chief goal is to make her laugh--and he does, easily. I feel almost like they have their own language sometimes. It is SO dear.)

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