Third Time Is A Charm

Our third trip to the beach with MK and she LOVED it! The children and I spent the last week at Seabrook Island viewing beautiful rainbows, dreaming about the yachts that are surely to be in our future, counting deer that crossed our paths, eating homemade ice cream sandwiches, riding bikes in the rain, watching entirely too much tv, building sand castle replicas of Cair Paravel, counting jelly fish, swimming in the pools and just having a wonderful time together. Ryan was able to join us for the weekend and we were very excited to have some time with him!

The beach is always a great place for me to ponder things. This trip, I sat back and just watched my children and really thought a lot about just how different their little personalities are. The event that lead me to my thinking was this.....the first morning that we were at the beach, the boys, MK and I decided to ride bikes to the pool. So off we go, the boys on their bikes and MK in her stroller. I had told them not to get too far ahead of me. That comment was either not heard or they chose to ignore it. I was walking as fast as one possibly can in flip flops pushing a 23 lb baby in a wobbly stroller loaded down with a bag of necessities. The boys were up a ways, I called to them to come back to me.....only Colin starts to ride towards me. Then I noticed this man getting out of this car with a puzzled look on his face and he is looking at the back of his car. Still no sign of Pryce. I call to Colin and ask where Pryce is. Colin says that Pryce is behind the car...my heart stopped. I was frantic and asked Colin if Pryce was ok. Colin assured me that he was but I still could not see him and the man was still looking at the back of the car with a puzzled stare. Finally, Pryce cruises nonchalantly around the rear of the car on his bike, big smile and all, oblivious to the tizzy I was in. The man looks at me and says, "I just heard a big thud on my car....." Pryce circles around me about this time and says "Sorry, mom, it was all my fault, I just wasn't paying attention...." It took me awhile to put it all together but basically Pryce drove right into a parked car! Unbelieveable! So, it was at this moment that I just smiled because Pryce just lives in his own little world, day by day, he has no plans specifically, carefree, very "in the moment" kind of child. Colin, on the other hand, is for the most part my serious little man....he thinks about yesterday, today and tomorrow, he is the diplomatic one - never siding one way or the other, just making peace all the way around, he doesn't try to be funny but he will make you laugh in a heartbeat and he is very logical - everything must make sense to him. Then I started thinking about Mason-Kate. Though she is 18 months old, our relationship with her right now is like the one that we first shared with Colin and Pryce as infants. We are learning her and she is learning us. As time goes on I can see her shredding the layers of her shell and becoming more comfortable in her new surroundings. She is very familiar with her routine. She knows what to expect at bedtime (stories and kisses), dinnertime (prayer, then food - her favorite) and naptime (again, stories and kisses). She always looks back to make sure we are watching, she wants the "ok" from us. She is just so much fun to watch. I love getting to know this child, holding her, making her laugh, watching her try to feed herself with the spoon, teaching her to suck from a straw, blow bubbles, hearing her hum the entire time she engages in a meal, having her head on my shoulder and her arm patting my back, seeing her dance, hearing her squeal with delight when Ryan appears....we all just continue to fall in love with this little girl....and the best part is that she is loving us back!