Cheek-Squeezin' Overload

This is a bootlegged picture from Kayla's website, but I have to have something of these guys! Earlier this week I was in Rapid for training and got to spend some time with my folks, grandma, and Tony & Kayla and company. We went over to Tony & Kayla's for pizza on Monday night.

Anyone who knows me and loves me understands that I can be a bit...dramatic? Easily excitable? Intense? Well....Noah certainly thought so. I came barreling into their house barely stopping to take off my shoes. I NEEDED to squeeze somebody and Olivia being older and sturdier was the most natural option. Thankfully she recognized me or at least wasn't scared by me, so we started playing right away. Then I turned my sights on Noah. In hindsight I imagine that all he saw was something not unlike the Tasmanian Devil ripping into his calm, quiet world. It took about half a nanosecond for his face to crumble and the screams to start.

And so it went for about an hour. As soon as I looked at him or near him he started to cry. My mom was holding him and had to keep turning her body the other way so he couldn't see me. I'm sure it must be some sort of animal sense that he had. He didn't exactly smell fear -- I think he was smelling aunty insanity. He must have sensed that if he let me get too close his cheeks would be sore and his little soft body would be crushed by love.

As the night wore on, I calmed down a bit and Noah must have determined that I was no longer a threat. I got to hold him and squeeze his cheeks ever so lightly. He's such a calm and quiet baby. He is very intense when he just stares at people. He seems to really love looking at my dad, in particular.

Olivia is getting curly hair...at least I think so. She chatters all over the place and seems to pick up new words out of nowhere. The words I love hearing her say the most are names. She says her brother's name and grandma and even great-grandma (whom she had really just met that night). And then, the sweetest name...Kathy! Nobody else seemed to impressed when she said my name, but I was just beside myself. She doesn't even say "Kaffe", but she says "Kat-ty." She had me at hello. I went to the bathroom before we left and after a few moments I heard a little voice outside saying, "I'm coming, Kat-ty." And then some little fingers slid under the door. Makes me smile thinking about it.

Ok, well these aren't even my kids and I'm a little crazy about every little thing they do. But hey, it makes me happy!