It's time for the fourteenth installment of the portrait project - a photo of my children, each week, every week, for a year.
anders // My little adventurer. You place a high value on experiencing things with others, constantly asking for us to watch you play, pretend, or perform, that is, when we aren't actually engaged in an activity with you. To be honest, it's exhausting. But it also means that you are extremely cooperative when I want to take your picture, and for that, I am grateful!
aksel // Your language is still very limited, but 'outside' is one request you verbalize daily. The weather was absolutely perfect on the day we celebrated your second birthday, and I'm so happy we were able to venture out to Lake Waco. I must have yelled your name twenty times trying to get you to look up at the camera for this picture, but sometimes it seems that nothing can break your focus. I can't wait to see if this characteristic remains as you get older.
august // Your facial features are beginning to become more and more distinguished. The reward of seeing your big, bright eyes and new smiles is worth every silly face, awkward gesture, and goofy noise required to evoke the response.
What's that you say? Where is Week 12? Well, friends, Week 12 was a total bust. I can't remember what happened, and my camera certainly isn't going to help. It seems I didn't take a single picture. I'm going to give myself a little grace and move on, because the point of this project is to capture the essence of our everyday life, and I can think of nothing more appropriate to convey our every days than imperfection. Lord, Jesus, help us. The cat's out of the bag.
anders // We both learned a valuable lesson this week. You learned not to write on your skin. Or your duvet. Or anything other than paper, without permission. And I learned that I need to be more explicit when giving instructions.
aksel // Too many of our days are hurried and busy when Anders is at Mother's Day Out, with me trying to accomplish my agenda and run errands in the company of two, rather than three, sidekicks. But this particular day was wonderfully slow, and we were able to enjoy a few activities catered especially to you. I loved watching your concentration as your piled cheerios onto spaghetti noodles. That is...before you realized you could simply eat the cereal. The activity devolved at that point, but you seemed to enjoy it just the same.
august // Hearing your chuckles while you dream is simply magic. I know it's just a matter of time before you're laughing up a storm with your big brothers.
