Blessed Unrest

On Thursday we went to the zoo to have a once in a lifetime opportunity! We got to be very close to a 29 year old elephant to witness him PAINT A PICTURE! I thought about only bringing Asher and not bringing Adirah. Adirah tends to be grouchy in the afternoon and she doesn't like new and strange experiences. This experience was quite new and quite strange. And to complicate matters, this experience was quite smelly! Both children inherited my extreme smell sensitivity and when we entered the elephant arena both were overwhelmed by the odor. Adirah screamed "Get me out of here!" over and over. But Mark and I wanted to be close to the elephant, so we took turns calming her down so that WE could witness this event. Later, I asked Adirah "Did you like seeing the elephant?" "NO!" she said, "I didn't want to be there!" "Where did you want to be?" I asked. "At the store," she replied. "Buying chicken." ...

This evening, after Asher got out of the bath, he got dressed and then scurried around his room playing with toys. His legs have filled in with muscle and I looked at his face and suddenly I could see him as a man. Minutes earlier in the tub, he said something and in a flash I saw him as a 6 month old baby. All of this time travel made me feel nostalgic and I said to Asher, "One day, you are going to be a grown man, and then what am I going to do?" He shrugged and said, "Just treat me like a grown man."