Our girls are growing. Autumn's vocabulary seems to be doubling weekly.
She now says "truck", "tracks", "sissy" (for Claire), "snack",
"stroller", "Dora" (sick, I know!), "snow", "where go?", "help",
"butter" (she does this one with a licking sort of "tt", almost like she
imagines licking butter as she says it), "poo-py", "doll", and a number
of others. She is gaining a temper and is constantly on the go. She
loves putting together puzzles and car tracks, blowing up balloons and
letting the air out in her face, playing in tents, sitting on the window
sill, eating snacks constantly, helping me hang up the laundry,
coloring, painting, reading musical books (the ones with cartoon buttons
on the edge), and singing songs with actions. She loves yelling out
for Claire when Claire comes out from school, too. Her favorite friend
are Jonah ("Jo"), Spud ("Spu"), Lewis ("Lou"), Charlotte ("Char") and
Paige ("Pay").
Claire seems to entering a sweet stage which is warmly welcomed after the past 6 months of whiny, tantrums every 5 mins stage. She is growing taller, thinner, more social, and overall more sophisticated everyday.
She is good friends with a new American boy in her class named Abel. They two love to laugh and act crazy together. She said some other boys in class have been calling them "married" or "boyfriend and girlfriend", but she got a big smile on her face when I told her that they were just jealous that didn't have a girl who was a friend. She loves having friends Elisabeth and Spud over to play after school on a regular basis. She's begun reading some books on her own, even bits of chapter books and is enjoying the Narnia series.
She has expressed some deep thinking as of late.
Claire shared this with me on the way to school the other day,
"Mommy, I used to think God had 100 heads. That is how He can see everything at the same time. But, then I realized that God just has the whole world in His hands" and she proceeded to giggle at herself for having such a silly thought as God having so many heads. An innocent and heartfelt thought, a priceless moment of insight into my little Claire's spiritual imagination. She has been struggling recently with friends in school who do not believe that God is real. She told me it made her wonder if God is real and she didn't know what to think. I also know this has been on her mind as she asked recently if her friends will go to a "dungeon" if they don't believe in God. Not too long ago, we had a bit of a postmodern conversation. As I was explaining the difference between her earthly and heavenly Father, she said that she would be with her earthly father in heaven one day where her heavenly Father is;) I took a minute to explain to her that we won't just "go up" to heaven, but that God is going to renew and restore heaven and earth! She said, "Yeah that might be true, might not to be true." I asked her what she meant. "Well, you know, that might be true for us, but maybe not for other people who don't believe it." I did my best to explain that Truth is real, whether or not a person believes it. But, already, Truth is quite confusing to one so young who lives in a culture of relativism. I'm just glad she is sharing her thoughts openly with us and cares enough to consider her friends' opinions. Despite ballet lessons, she still loves her crafting best of all.
The Jaggers are headed to Dublin, Ireland for one last European adventure in Feb. Did I mention that we made it to see the Chevy Chase "European Vacation" roundabout in London? Good times! Once spring hits we may have some more news to share in terms of our plans for next year which are likely to reside out of the UK. And, since we'll be leaving the wonderful NHS, we hope those plans won't be including another little Jagger anytime soon....And Happy Robert Burns Day as today is Jan 25- a day of poetry, haggis, neeps, and tatties!
