I got back from a trip last night and made it home in time to see the girls for a few hours before bed time. My home comings, even if I have only been gone a few days, are magical times for me. I am greeted by lots of smiles and hugs. Rylee will jabber non-stop for several minutes about her day, listing everything that has happened, including food eaten, play activities, potty events, mischief performed and punishments administered for the mischief. Reagan throws herself into my arms and hugs my neck tight and gives me Eskimo kisses. The twins give me big toothless grins and crawl at top speed to pull up on my legs. I feel like a pretty popular guy when I get home.
But last night was special for me.
After wiping their faces (they had just finished some spaghetti o's) I put the twins on the floor to play with them for a few minutes. Jordan stood up with a big grin and a twinkle in her eye, shook her head from side to side a few times and commenced to march around the kitchen. She probably made six or seven steps, with her arms spread out wide, her hands curled into tight little fists, before losing her concentration. And with her arms now raised over her head and a triumphant gaze cast in my direction (as if to say "Look what I can do, Dad!") she unceremoniously flopped down on her behind, the grin never leaving her face. I was overcome with emotion, less than a year ago I was not sure if she would even live and now she is walking. With tears running down my cheeks, I scooped her up and hugged her tight.
Competition for attention has become an issue and while I was gushing over Jordan, Madison let it be known that she would like some attention too. After composing myself I bent down to assure Madison that I was proud of her too.