Spring Breaking

I love Easter morning. Our Easters tend to be pretty low-key. The Easter bunny, if he comes, doesn't tend to bring much. We colored eggs yesterday and when Oliver wakes up from his nap we'll hide some eggs for the kids to find.

But other than that, we have lots of time to be with each other and think about the glorious heart of the gospel: resurrection morning. (In fact, as I wrote my title, I was thinking not only about Spring Break, which the kids had this week, but the idea of light breaking and dawn breaking--and the idea that the resurrection is one of those glorious breakings).

This has been a lovely week for our family. Our cousins had spring break, so the kids spent most of the week playing. On Wednesday, we took the lot down to St. George where we explored the new children's museum and then played on the splash pad. Oliver was in heaven, since he could wander at will through the water. That afternoon, the Andrew and Oliver stayed at the condo with Bubby while I got my hair cut--and highlighted! A first for me. I'm still adjusting to the look, but I think I like it. (It took a lot longer than I'd expected--nearly two and a half hours). Evelyn also got her hair cut--a cute bob just in time for Easter.

Thursday the kids spent most of the day playing with their cousins either at our house or at Bubby's. Friday, we went to the natural history museum on campus and then had lunch at "The Cow" (otherwise known as the Top Spot) where the kids gorged on french fries and ice cream and generally thought life couldn't be any better. That afternoon, after the cousins left, I took the kids to the pool and Oliver only tried to drown himself once (I'd set him up on the edge of the pool so he could jump down to me--instead, he took off along the ledge of the pool and then stepped into the pool a half step before I got to him. He was fine--but he did get an unexpected submersion).

Evelyn--after suffering a week or more of truly grotesque snaggle-toothdom (her two front teeth were loose, turning brown because they were essentially dead, protruding, and dangling at different angles from each other)--finally lost both front teeth last night. With a little help from some dental floss. She's now missing six teeth from the front of her mouth, as you can see from the picture below. Luckily, she's still pretty cute.

 The only other thing of note from this week is a personal one for me: we finally weaned Oliver. I realize that 22 months is a long time to nurse in the developed world (though WHO recommends nursing up through age two), but it was something that both Oliver and I really loved, and something that, as he is likely my last baby, I found truly difficult to relinquish. But he's undeniably a toddler and not a baby and it was time to move on. I have been blessed, I think, to have the opportunity (both in time and physical capacity) to nurse all of my children into their second year. The more I learn about the ways women's bodies work to nurture children, the more miraculous the whole thing seems to me.