Cycles

Many of us know that life travels in cycles...sometimes big and obvious ones like the seasonal cycles...but there is also the very non-linear circuitous way that life ebbs and flows. Last year at this time, my youngest daughter would fall asleep around 9 or 9:30 at night, and sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning. Lately, everyone has been falling asleep between 8:30 and 10 pm, and waking early--like around 6 or 6:30, despite the fact that the mornings are darker and darker each day. I like watching and observing these more subtle cycles, and I'm so grateful that my kids are able to live within their own. Not being pushed or rushed or limited to a time-constrained day surely helps them to live a life that is less hindered and more free, even if we still have schedules to abide by in general.

Sig has been hopping over milestones lately. After an entire summer spent at the pool, which has now been closed for nearly a month, she suddenly discovered that she can go entirely underwater. Because this is her new-found fun, she wants to go out into the hot tub every day. It's pretty fun to watch her go under over and over and over. This will bring a whole new level of fun into our pool days...the slides, diving boards, and all the other fun can be more thoroughly explored. I'm sure that it took my little one so long to feel comfortable with her head under the water because of the one snafu I pulled while staying at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. They have an awesome pool with some really amazing, established landscaping. The palms are huge, and the whole pool area is a tropical funzone. They have some pretty cool slides too. When Sig was 2, I had her in my lap while we zoomed down a slide, and my foot slipped on the pool bottom when we came off and we both went under. That was the last day she ever put her head under water intentionally until last week.

She also learned how to do the monkey bars on her own. And then she discovered that she could crawl on top of them. In absolute adorable terms, she said to me while crawling along the top, "Now that I'm nearly five, I am learning how to do so many things! Look at me! Who knew I would go underwater and crawl on top of the monkey bars all in one week?"

Really, who would've thunk?

Of course, who would've ever guessed that she's be a wig afficionado, as well?