Kimball and Rebecah

One of the things I liked best about my sister Annette's visit was being able to spend time with her kids. I feel like I really got to know them better during our time together this time around. It's probably because they're both getting older now and they aren't babies anymore, so we have more interactions together. I thought it would be fitting to make a blog post about the kids and to share some funny stories and about them and some of the things about them that I like best.

Rebecah (3½) Some of my nieces have been downright scared of me and haven't really wanted much to do with me when they're young. It doesn't hurt my feelings, and I completely understand. I must seem really odd to them and it must be confusing/perplexing at times as they wonder why I don't move, why I can't hold them and interact with them like everyone else, why I'm in a big wheelchair, etc. Even though some of my nieces/nephews go through a stage where they're a little (or a lot) leery of me, they always come through it after awhile.

Rebecah is one of my nieces that's been especially slow to warm when it comes to me. She's finally starting to like me a little more (although she's still quite reserved around me most of the time). One of the things she did when visiting that I thought was hilarious was when Annette would be in my room doing something with me and/or helping our mom with my care. Rebecah did NOT like this! Sometimes she would tug on Annette's hand and say, "I want you to come oooout!" Annette wasn't about to let her three-year-old call the shots, so she stayed put which only fueled the fires of Rebecah's frustration. (There were some major meltdowns which were actually quite comical, leaving my mom, Annette and me to stifle our laughter.)

Rebecah has always been a rather clingy child and often wants to be held by her mom and ONLY her mom. Sometimes Annette would be helping with my care and Rebecah would be carrying on saying, "I want you to hoooolllld me" over the over. One night when Annette was putting Rebecah to bed she whispered in her mom's ear, "I don't want you to go back to Heather's room." We had a good laugh over that. She's definitely not used to having to share her mom so much and was certainly jealous at times when I was taking too much of her mom's attention!

Before anyone gets the wrong idea about Rebecah and starts thinking that she's bratty girl, I must set the record straight. Her actions are completely in line with her age, and while she has her moments and occasional meltdowns, she's fun and adorable and is sweet (most of the time!). I was able to win her over more and more over the nine days that she was here. When Annette took Kimball out for some one-on-one time on his birthday, Rebecah and I were buds and watched Tangled together.

One morning Rebecah was doing puzzles and after completing one she'd tip-toe to the edge of the kitchen and peek in at me. When I'd look in her direction she would exclaim, "I did it! I did another puzzle!" (I must not be so scary after all, right?!) The funny thing about this, though, was that she wanted her mom to leave the room when she wanted to come tell me about doing another puzzle because she was embarrassed. :)

I wanted to get a few pictures with Rebecah and after a little coaxing she consented to pose with me. The lighting isn't the best in these pictures since the lights in the kitchen always make people's skin tones look a bit off, but I still like the way they turned out. I couldn't decide which one I liked the best since I liked several of them for different reasons, so I'm including a bunch:

Kimball (6) When Kimball arrived he had a loose tooth and he worked at wiggling it all week with no success. I was starting to think that he'd leave for home with both of his two front teeth still intact, but that darn tooth finally fell out on Saturday morning. I was excited to be able to witness it, and Kimball was excited/proud of himself for pulling his own tooth. (And the Tooth Fairy still managed to find him even though he was far from home!)

As soon as Kimball lost his tooth the other central (big one in the middle) started wiggling. I guess it had already been slightly loose, but it started wiggling more and more with that first tooth out. Before Kimball left I asked him if he thought both teeth would be out by the time he starts kindergarten this coming Wednesday (September 4). Annette said she hopes not because she doesn't like "windows," and certainly not a double window. I told her I think it's cute to see kids with "windows," as it's something that's normal/understandable for kids that age, and not something that's unusual/bizarre. I jokingly told Annette that she better hope that it's the other central tooth that comes out next and not the smaller one on the other side, because then he would look like a hillbilly with one big tooth next to two gaps! ;)

Kimball liked coming into my room to watch TV with me. (I usually have my TV on even if I'm working on my computer, just to provide some background noise.) He would come snuggle into my recliner (after I was back in my bed) and watch whatever was on TV (even if it was something "boring" like the news). He also liked watching Wheel of Fortune, too, and I enjoyed having a buddy.

Kimball is a ball of energy! He's so sweet and fun, but I can tell he's definitely ready for school. He needs it to keep him busy/out of trouble! ;) I loved listening to him read Frog and Toad to my mom; he's an excellent reader! He's also so creative and really good at building things with Legos and K'nex. Here's the cute soon-to-be kindergartner. He's sure looking grown-up!

On Sunday afternoon I tried to get a couple more pictures with Rebecah since the lighting was more natural. She looked so pretty in her blue dress (it really complemented her pretty blue eyes).

The kids are much more inclined to cooperate and smile if we promise to take a few silly pictures at the end!

One of the other things I love about having kids around is hearing them ask questions that are often funny or off-the-wall. It just shows that their little minds are thinking. I sure love these guys and had a blast with them!