SofiandNatalie.com

I would guess at one point in time we’ve all had a dream so real that we wake up wondering if it was real.  Until now, I had never thought about that from a child’s perspective.  Sofi apparently had a dream that involved a pink puppy that she saw/left/remembered underneath a magazine.  We couldn’t figure out what she was talking about – she doesn’t have a pink puppy – and she was adamant about it to the point of tears.  When she is brought to tears, so are we, but how do you explain a dream to a three year old?

We calmed her a bit with a picture of a puppy on the internet (and one for Natalie), but I wonder what we’ll end up doing next time.

Papa

I imagine that the first day of school – any school – qualifies as something of a right of passage.  It symbolizes that you’re maturing and getting ready to endure everything that life has to offer.  What nobody ever talks about is how traumatic it can be – for the parents.  That’s right, I can hardly believe that my daughter is off to preschool, starting this week, and complete with her backpack, lunchbox and a whole lot of enthusiasm Sofi headed off to “Mama’s School” to start her education.

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When I decided to create this blog, it began as a labor of love.  It was a way for me to put down into words the love and happiness that my children had brought into my life, and a way for me to “give” them their history so that later on they could know how their actions had impacted my life and opened my eyes to a happiness and joy that could be neither bought nor stolen.  If, at some point, I happened to make them laugh or cringe in embarassment later in life, all the better.  Realizing this, I always think that there is something more that I can give, something else that I can share, or some way that I can be better for my children.  And of course, when I think these thoughts, I am reminded of Diane Looman’s poem:

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What a wonderful Saturday.  I know that I should probably be writing this into a single weekend post; especially since it’s now Monday, but we did so much this weekend and had such a good time that I am forced to break it out into two posts or I will never get in the required number of pictures.  Sofi and Natalie, after all, have their fans, and their fans want photos!

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I’ve learned a lot about women over the last three years – or perhaps I should say girls – and almost all of it has been from my daughters.  Sure, my wife has taught me some, but Sofi and Natalie – kids in general perhaps – have a different view on so many differnt things that sometimes I end up simply sitting back and laughing at the whole thing.

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“Why’s the kitchen shaking, Papa??”

Of course, by the time Sofi got that thought into and out of her head she was in my arms in the guest bedroom door-frame and Natalie was in Mama’s arms in our bathroom door-frame, and just like that both girls survived their first earthquake – no worse for wear.

According to the USGS:

A moderate earthquake occurred at 8:04:54 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007.
The magnitude 5.6 event occurred 8 km (5 miles) NNE of Alum Rock, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 9 km ( 6 miles).

From our perspective, it felt to me as though the house was rolling a little bit, but it was over pretty quickly.  I’d say from start to finish less than five seconds, but the aftershock (our excitement at the event) in our house was much longer than that.  The girls weren’t afraid so much as reacting to our reaction, which was of concern, perhaps a little fear, and to some extent excitement as well.  Fortunately, at the end of the day, everyone is fine.  The house is fine.  We’re no worse for wear.  A Charlie Brown’s Halloween Special is on the television and there’s special popcorn.  Would be interested to know who else felt the earthquake; post in the comments and let us know your thoughts.

Papa

While I realize that this blog is about our children, it is also about everyone that is a part of our life.  Looking back I realized that is quite a few people and thought that perhaps I should share some of those photos, too.  Show you how you made us smile an how much we enjoyed your company.  Hopefully each of you – included in these photos and not – will know that we think of you as a part of our family and hope that you will continue to be a part of our lives and the lives of our daughters for many years to come.

For reference, all photos in this set are from the calendar year 2005. 

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It has been my goal from the beginning of this blog to try and post something for the girl’s blog every day or at the most every other day.  I’m doing this for two reasons really – one so that I don’t forget and two so that their audience remembers what our children are all about.  I want to remember how special these kids make me feel and to try and share with anyone wanting to read this how special these girls really are – how special all children really are.  Of course, with work and fun and everything that steals our week away it’s sometimes difficult to get pictures to fill in the blank spaces around these words, but digital cameras have made it a heck of a lot easier.

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I went to Fry’s Electronics tonight with my daughters.  It’s Gina’s night out and I figured this would be a good bonding experience for us.  As always, I needed a couple of things anyway and, I thought, how bad could it be?  Ha.  What the heck was I thinking?

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I believe that anyone with children understands the want and need to show them off.  When I look at my children I know that as much as I have created them, they have recreated me.  They’ve taught me what’s important – and more importantly, what’s not.  They’ve taught me patience – and how to lose it.  Most of all, I think, they’ve taught me about unconditional love.  For that, I thank them and hope they realize how much they’re loved.

Papa