Isla 71 Months

This month I'm going to keep things short and sweet. I have a couple little stories to share about her that represent her sweet personality to a tee. We've just concluded an incredible 2 1/2 weeks of hosting extended family. Our household literally doubled to 10 members for the past 17 nights and this girl couldn't have been happier. This morning, after we bid them farewell at the airport and sent them on their way to their next adventure in Bangladesh, Isla dissolved into tears in the back seat of the van. She is the most tenderhearted of souls and couldn't bear the thought of not seeing her dear cousins for two years. The tears were flowing for me as well when she intuitively asked, "Why weren't they as sad to leave us as we were to see them go?" More directly, I think my sweet girl was trying to process the situation was wondered how some members of the group managed to maintain dry eyes. 

This sparked an excellent conversation about how people experience and process emotions differently - how some people hurt more on the inside while others, like us, wear our emotions on our sleeves. I explained that our guests' dry eyes were not an indicator of their depth of love and "miss" for us. Outward appearances can be so deceiving. After our conversation, my sweet Isla understood and it was so precious to watch the situation play out before me - to recognize her need to be loved and missed and for her emotions to be validated. I'm so proud of the emotionally intelligent girl she is becoming!

This month has been jam-packed and crazy and it's been neat to watch my little energizer bunny thrive at all things social. She can transition from one social setting to the next without even blinking, leaving her introverted mama in awe. Because of all the activity this month, I made a very intentional effort to spend some one on one time with Isla while our guests were here. While the younger two were getting ready for bed one evening, I surprised her and told her to put on her biking shoes and come with me. She was elated and we had the best time exercising together - her on her bike and me in my running shoes. She couldn't stop saying how fun it was to be out spending time with her mama. She totally creamed me on her bike too. Afterwards, we went to Target and armed with a list, we completed her school supply shopping. There literally could have been no better date for this girly and I am so happy to have her in my life, teaching me new things every day.