Unexpected Gifts

Elise and I had a little adventure this week. I offered to help out and drive my sister to some doctor appointments and ended up being stuck in Edmonton. The roads were some kinda terrible. So, we did what any normal person would. We rented a hotel room, bought some essentials (this may or may not have included far too much chocolate), and ordered in pizza!  It actually ended up being a nice night and some time with my sister I normally would never get. 

Another benefit was I got a lot of one on one time with Elise.  What made the time even more focused is that I was not expecting it so I had no distractions. No kindle, no computer and a whole lot of time in an area of the hospital that had no service so my phone was out of the question.  This meant extreme focused time.

I was really blown away and grateful for the time. I discovered things about her that I maybe wasn’t fully present to. Yeah I probably noticed them, but didn’t appreciate them.

One thing that came to light was how much attention she gets. I was sitting in a hallway and (I am not exaggerating) literally every person that walked by had to stop and talk to her. One rare time I was even on the phone (I had to lean my head just so to talk) and the person still stopped and chatted to her. The best part she was totally putting on a show for people! This spot is usually completely taken over by Aubrey.  Which made me wonder, is Elise quiet when Aubrey is around or are we more aware of what Aubrey is doing because we can understand her?

I had a small flash of guilt thinking that I may just not pay attention to her and see that she is a little charmer.  I decided to set the guilt aside and continue enjoying my time with her.  Which then allowed me to see that she is really aware. Or seems to be.

What I mean by ‘aware’ is she really takes note of what is going on around her.  She watches people’s every move. And will even giggle at different things that happen around her that I don’t think all babies would even pay attention to. She gets a look in her eye that just makes me think she is really taking in everything around her. It’s this all business kind of a look.

This unexpected gifted time made me realize I always want to set time like that aside with each child.  A time where housework, phone calls, Internet, kindles etc. are all set aside, so that I can truly just enjoy and be there with each girl.