One on one time

A few years ago our church led a discussion of  "The 5 Love Languages of Children".  I knew immediately when I read it that Sierra's "love language" is quality time.  Lately, she has given some subtle signs that she is craving this.  Actually she's said "I really want to spend some time along with you... no other kids".  I guess that's not so subtle!  I'm more than happy to pull one of the big girls out of school for a day to spend the afternoon with them, except that Cadence is home all of the time.  Honestly, she is the one who demands the majority of my time and attention. 

I remember going from one child to two after Laurel was born.  I was guilt-ridden for the first few months.  I felt like Sierra was so completely robbed of the energy and attention that had once been only for her.  That aspect hasn't felt as palpable when Cadence joined our family, but it's there nonetheless.  Yet, more than I want for one child to get all of my time, I want more for them to have siblings to grow up with... so here we are!

Sierra had a doctor's check-up yesterday and I found a friend to watch Cadence.  I told Sierra the night before that we would be going to breakfast, just the two of us, before her appointment.  Her whole face lit up as she gave me a huge hug! 

We went to the Waffle House since she had never been there.  We laughed about some of my past experiences there (I left out the part where it was 3am after the bars shut down) and enjoyed too much food.  At one point she went to the restroom and slipped on some water on the floor.  All that I heard was a yelp from behind the door and everyone stopped to turn and look.  When she came out and told me what happened we both laughed and when I mentioned the attention that her yelp got we laughed even harder!

While in the waiting room at the doctor's office we posed for a picture with my camera.  I was looking for a "nice" pic, but she showed her gum.  That led in to a slew of pictures of us trying to get our gum just right and black out our teeth.  Which led to the two of us laughing hysterically in the middle of the waiting room!  It was a moment of pure joy between us. 

Even though it was a short morning together, Sierra keeps saying "Remember when I slipped..." and "Remember when you made that funny face...".  It didn't take much to communicate in her "love language" and it was worth every minute!

Our "nice" picture

What a contented look!

This is the one that really got us laughing!

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