Our day

It's days like today that I am so grateful to be a stay at home mom who lives in San Diego. We had a busy and fun-filled day that wore the kids out without wearing me out. What more could I ask for?

Jack and Violet went to the dentist in the morning. It was Violet's first exam. I was hopeful that she would be able to watch Jack get his teeth cleaned and examined and that she would see how easy it was. Alas, it wasn't to be. The assistant came into the waiting room and said she was ready for Jack to come back. I was a little confused at first, because every other time we've been there, we've gone back with Jack. But Violet was content playing with the doll house, and I figured, "Why mess with a good thing?"

The assistant called Violet back after she was done with Jack, and immediately I knew that Violet wasn't going to have any of it. She did not want to sit in the chair. She did not want this strange person looking in her mouth. She really didn't want this whirring thing in her mouth cleaning her teeth. She started crying.

"NO! Don't want it!" she said.

(By the way, I have heard this phrase out of Violet's mouth way too many times in the past several days.)

I really need to stop thinking that, just because Violet is easier in general than Jack was, that she is going to be as easy or easier about everything. Granted, we didn't bring Jack in for his first dental visit until he was over three years old. But he was so good at that appointment. It was no big deal at all. I knew that it was likely that it wouldn't go as well with Violet, because she is so much younger than he was. But I felt it was important to get her teeth checked because she has had so many more sweets than Jack ever did at her age. Honestly, I think he was older than she is now before he had anything that would be considered a sweet treat.

I told the assistant that we should just skip the cleaning for this first time, because my main reason for bringing Violet to the dentist was just to make sure that she didn't have any cavities. Our dentist is so good. We love her. She came in and looked at Jack's teeth. Then she looked at Violet's. No cavities for either child - whoo hoo! I had to hold Violet, though, so there are no pictures of this milestone.

After the dentist, we met up with some friends at the beach. I love San Diego. Where else can you go to the beach in January? The kids had such a great time. But I was struck by two things while we were there.

The first happened when we first arrived. The beach always entails hauling a bunch of stuff - snacks, blankets, towels, umbrella, did I mention snacks? It's a pain in the neck, honestly. And the beach that we went to today was a bit of a hike from the parking lot. The parking lot was at the top of these bluffs, and we had to walk down this path to get to the ocean. I was trying to unpack, but Violet was fussing that she wanted to get out of her car seat. I told Jack that he was in charge of his sister while I got everything together.

As I was getting everything ready, I could hear Jack saying, "No, Violet! That's not safe! Stay away from there! No! Don't go in the street!"

I looked up. I saw Jack running interference, putting himself between his sister and the edge of the cliffs (although she really wasn't in any danger of falling off - it's a very gradual slope), between her and the path that went down to the beach, between her and the parking lot. He kept pulling her away from all these places he knew she shouldn't go. Violet was basically running amok, and poor Jack was running himself ragged trying to keep her in the little 3x3 square foot patch of concrete where she wouldn't get into any trouble. Finally, I gave both kids a break and just picked Violet up while I finished getting ready to walk down.

The entire time this was going on, however, I noticed an older lady pull up in the spot next to us, and she was just watching us. When I finally got ready to walk down, she came out of the car and told me, "You are so lucky. He is so good with her."

I told her, "Oh, I know."

The other thing that I noticed was that, once we got settled on the beach, just how comfortable Jack was running in and out of the waves. We normally go to a beach that is on the bay, so the water is very calm. One of the many reasons we go to that beach in particular is because Jack had been knocked down by waves a few times as a very little child and he had developed a kind of phobia of the beach. I couldn't help but think, as I saw him just having so much fun going in and out of the water, "We have come so far."

The rest of the day was just so much fun. The kids had such a blast playing with their friends. I barely had to pay any attention to them at all. They just entertained each other. It's so nice that the kids are at an age where they can truly enjoy their friends.

Honestly, if even two years ago you would have told me that a day like today was not only possible but would be the norm with Jack, I would have thought you were telling pretty lies to make me feel better. I told my friend that sometimes I wonder if all the stuff we did with him really made a difference or if he would have figured it all out himself. But he has just turned into such a great little guy. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm just going to enjoy this as long as I can.

I know that days like today will run together over the years. I hope that we have several more gorgeous beach days and fun with friends days and awesome big brother days ahead of us - and several days that are all three. But I just want to take a moment and really appreciate what a blessing it is to live the life that we do.