Post # 399: The End

For the past 18 months, I have tried to have a post about one or both of my wonderful daughters daily, and although, that might not have happened, the effort was definitely there. This blog started as just a place to record the little things that the girls did that I did not want to forget, but in the end I realized that nothing that they do is little when they (and their mommy) are my whole world and vice-versa. One day when my daughters read this, I hope they'll realize that every post on here was out of love, and I hope they'll realize how important they are to their mommy and me. I truly believe that I cannot begin to explain to my daughters how much I love them, but I hope it is that way with all parents and their children. Maybe one day if my girls have children of their own, they'll understand the joy that their happiness brings their mommy and me and the love that we feel for them.

Presley and Paxten, please always remember that although life is not fair, it's wonderful, and since this may be the only life you live, live it with all of your heart and enjoy every step of it, and although I will no longer be blogging about things that you two do on a daily basis, I will still be watching you every step of the way, just like I have been, every step of your life so far, even if you can't always see me. I love you both dearly. -Daddy

Noses

I told the girls to stick out their noses and smile.

I was reading to both girls the other night while they sat in my lap. We usually don't do this because Paxten really only likes touchy-feely books where as Presley prefers the longer books with some sort of plot. In one of the books that I was reading to them, there is a mirror on the last page, and on the opposite page above a picture of a rabbit, the book reads:

"I have a button nose. What kind of nose do you have?"

Me:  Everybody look in the mirror. What kind of nose do you have? (I looked in the mirror)

P2:  My see. (She looked in the mirror) Where's daddy's nose?

P1:  Paxten you got a baby nose.

Me:  What about me Presley?

P1:  Daddy, you got a big nose.

Me:  What about mommy's nose?

P1:  Mommy's got a medium nose.

Me:  Well what about your nose Presley?

P1:  (She looked in the mirror) I got a perfect nose.

I love my girls and their noses!

Summer Day Gazes

Yesterday I had a great summer day moment with my daughters. After I picked them up from school we went swimming together while their mommy cooked dinner. After they swam, they put on their "towel dresses" (per Presley) for dinner, and then of course it was Monday, and the ice cream man comes on Monday. We swam. We ate ice cream. We got some in our hair even. I love every second with them so much. When I have perfect moments with them like yesterday, I wish I could make them last forever.

BFF Sisters

It's a known fact that Presley and Paxten are and will be "best friends forever." They have always been close, but last weekend, it is as if something just clicked between the two of them, and they played together all weekend! At one point I was down stairs and I asked Lora where the girls were, and she said that they were upstairs playing. I was a bit curious about what was going on upstairs because I couldn't  hear the common sound of P2 screaming or P1 yelling, "Paxten!" I went upstairs, and they were sitting in the tent playing together with their baby dolls, and it made me feel so proud and happy. I took a picture in the tent, and then they wanted to take another one, and it's below as well. They came up with the second picture on their own. I love my daughters more than words can express, but I also love that they love each other that same way.

"I Wake Up!"

Paxten is usually the last to rise in our house, and most days Lora or I end up going into her room and waking her up if it's before 8AM. Presley usually wakes up and comes down stairs on her own. A few mornings ago, Paxten woke up really early for her, and opened her door to find her "baby gate" that assures us she stays in her room, and she started yelling, "I wake up dadda! I wake up!" So I brought her down stairs and threw her in bed with her mommy and me, but she did not want to stay in bed. She wanted her blanket, so I told her to go get it thinking that there was no way that she'd go all the way upstairs and get it on her own, but I set her down, and away she went. Then on Presley's monitor, we heard Paxten go into Presley's room and say, "good morning Presley," and then after a few minutes of unsupervised commotion upstairs that Lora and I could hear on the monitors, both girls came down with Paxten's pillow and a lot of her baby dolls.

Paxten decided to hide under the bathroom counter with her baby dolls and put them night-night. Notice in the picture below the golden pillow in front of her. That's the "baby gate" she put up after she put her babies night-night. My toddler is becoming a little girl, and I love watching every second of it.

Paxten's Bluff

For a while now, P2 has been trying to do everything herself. "Let me do it," is heard countless times at our house, but all she's doing is seeing what she can get away with, even if it's not something she wants to get away with. I call her bluff often, but I liked this particular one when I walked her into school yesterday morning.

Half way down the hall to Paxten's class, I was walking ahead of her, and the following conversation took place:

Me:  Come on Paxten.

P2:  Let me open the door! (She ran ahead of me.)

Me:  Okay, Paxten open the door.

P2:  Go. (She pointed to the entrance of her school.) Go home dadda.

Me:  You want me to go home?

P2:  Yes.

Me:  Okay. I love you. Bye. (I started walking back down the hall away from the entrance to her class room.)

P2:  No! NO! Dadda!

Me:  Yes?

P2:  Come with me.

Spitting Paxten

This weekend, while we were at a water park, Paxten made Lora and me laugh because while she was drinking water, she all of the sudden just spit some of it out onto the ground.

Later that same night, while Lora was letting the girls help her make brownies, we laughed even harder when Paxten was stirring the brownies, and then out of nowhere decided to spit into the brownie mix. (Pic below right after it happened, and I don't think she actually spit anything out of her mouth. I'm not really sure why she did that, but Lora and I were rolling.)

You see, I've been working with Paxten on spitting out water so we can move on to spitting out toothpaste. Once she gets that, we can use toothpaste with fluoride in it, which will work better than the stuff she uses now.

So after the two spitting incidents, I thought she may be ready to try toothpaste with fluoride in it, especially after eating said brownies. Paxten was very excited to get to use "sissy's toothpaste," and after about 30 seconds of brushing, I told her to spit it out, and her response was: "All Gone."

Oh well, maybe next time. There is a similar story with P1 from about 15 months ago that I blogged about too.