Maturing

Jackson drew a lovely picture of our family. Mark was the only one who got a smile, but I guess he had to have a big head to make room for it.

It depicts the maturing nature of our family. Not only because Jackson is drawing it, but my crazy hair (which occurs most days b/c I lack motivation and time to do it), Mark's... crazy hair and shrinking body (seriously, the Dr. measured him shorter than ever), Jackson's lengthening body, and Allie's crawling-like position, all do represent our current family well.

Physical traits are simply the visual side of our family maturing. We have also matured in our perceptions and understandings--most especially Jackson who has entered the "why" phase of toddler-hood. This inevitable, dreaded phase, has allowed for deep introspection as to why it is raining, and why we stopped at red lights, and why we have to wear shorts when we go outside. There are many days when I succumb to the, "just because" answer, but both Mark and I have been surprised at how many things we "don't know why".

Allie is maturing through curiosity, and it is propelling her forward quickly. The above portrait will soon be out of date as I expect her to start walking within the month. She has willingly done many a belly flop while attempting to walk. She also happily let Jackson carry her around today--anything to get her places faster and with a different perspective.

My younger sister--who I swear just started high school--came to visit us last week and continued propelling us into the mature world. It's hard to believe that she's a mature, self-sufficient college student who will graduate in 2 years. What?!

 While she was here, we had a great time visiting lots of sites down town. Most days, we'd pack a lunch and head downtown after Allie's morning nap, and gain new perspectives on money--generally how it is made and spent. Bureau of Engraving gave us sneak preview of the new 100$ bill coming out (I'm sure we'll see lots of them.); a visit to the capital revealed how many black Suburbans the executive branch purchases from Chevy each year; and we appreciated the 7.5 mill dollar investment a private philanthropist donated to cover half the cost of repairs on Washington's monument. 100 here, few thousand there, and a million here or there. No wonder it's such an expensive place to live in!

Thankfully we had the maturity to enjoy the fruits of our meager tax dollars and look forward to Jackson and Allie's major contributions to the system down the road.

But goodness. All this maturing is making some of us exhausted. So glad to have a kid who can crash in the stroller. Yes Allie!!!