Someone in this family has been making big strides this week: rolls to be exact. Nathan rolled over today. He's been building up to this performance all week, rolling on his side just to find himself stuck on an arm. But not today. Today he showed that arm who's boss. Audrey and I were involved in a game of pretend. Nathan was lying on his back. Audrey told me I needed to take a nap before we drove to one of the grandparents' houses. When I opened my eyes, Nate was on his belly. Just like that. When he's not amazing us with his physical feats, he makes us laugh as he sleeps. Most days he treats us to a Billy Crystal impersonation as he settles into sleep, as in Mr. Crystal's portrayal of Harry moaning himself to sleep in When Harry Met Sally. Nate moans until he finds that peaceful point of rest, at which time he presents us with a little smile (and really, don't we all want to feel like that when he finally hit the pillow?). But on Tuesday, he began giggling in his sleep. No explanation why. No flickering of the lids. Just sleep and laughter. I will always wonder what dream elicited such a sweet sound.
As for Audrey, the laughs roll from sun up to sundown. Here are just a sprinkling of the ones she's elicited this week:
Audrey came downstairs from bath time with Daddy on Saturday. Jason had a smile on his face. He asked Audrey to repeat what she had told him upstairs. "I have a baby in my belly," she said. "It's baby Jesus, or baby Moses. Or, it might be both. But I'm not having it yet." (Today she reminded me of the baby Jesus and Moses she's growing in her belly. Again, she told me she wasn't having them yet. Thankfully. I need time to alert the appropriate cable stations).
My mother called on Sunday as we were parked (short on gas) on the roadside. When I hung up, Audrey asked, "Who was that?"
"Mamaw. She called to see if we were still stuck," I said.
"And we are still stuck," she said.
Wednesday we were getting ready to leave the house. Audrey ran out to the garage. She told me she wanted to help me get ready. She overturned an empty cardboard box, stood on top of it and reached for the garage door opener. She hit a button, which opened one of the garage doors - the one on the carless side of our garage. "Oops. That's the wrong one," she said. "That's cool!"
Thursday, I told her we were headed to a neighbor's house. "We're going to Miss Ginger's house," I said. Audrey was ecstatic. I was slightly surprised. We've been to Ginger's once or twice, but I wasn't sure she would remember. Then it clicked. The neighbors who share our fence have a dog. Audrey calls this dog her best friend. The neighbors call her Ginger. When I said we were going to Miss Ginger's house, she assumed I meant the dog.
Later, we were pretending to be monsters. I told Audrey I needed to stop to go potty. "On the floor?" she asked. "Monsters go potty on the floor." (Needless to say, I stopped being a monster long enough to go potty on the toilet and not the floor).
Today was spent like most days this week, sprinkled with healthy doses of make believe. We've been heroes. We've been monsters. Skeletons. Dinosaurs. Animals. We've used a stool as a steering wheel and driven to Grandma's house. Today, Audrey got out some "medical supplies" and told me I needed a shot and a check-up. She proceeded with my examination. "I'm a doctor," she said. "But I'm still Audrey."
Some days, we get stuck on our own arms. We laugh and moan in our sleep and say nothing when we're awake. We open doors we don't mean to. You can't always tell if we're coming or going (see picture above - she's taken to dressing herself). But one thing is certain, whether she's growling or "doctoring," Audrey is always Audrey. And family is family. Sweet, sweet family.
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