Triangles

I have been in agony since Monday with a migraine that simply would not give up. My head is so bruised it feels like I have been beaten with a baseball bat. I can't even tell you how frustrating it is to be in pain such as this when you could be enjoying a cup of hot tea and a reading by the window, watching the rain patter on the sidewalk. Ugh. This morning I woke up pain free.. completely pain free... I resolved to take it easy all day .. to make sure the pain did not return. Ada and Margot were just super excited to see me off the couch for the first time all week (for the record they are excellent little nurses). We read all morning and then headed upstairs to wreck the play room. Margot has really been into her puzzles lately, particularly the ones with numbers. So we did some puzzling together.

I have to be honest here, my girls are not super great at puzzles. I know they just turned two but there are plenty of two year olds that are more than capable of putting simple puzzle pieces in the correct spot. My girls have not been that interested. They are more into coloring, playing pretend, learning how to jump.. kicking soccer balls around.. reading books.. anyway the point is that have been too busy to concentrate on the patience for puzzle doing. Suddenly Margot is all about it.. and as it turns out.. she is really good. She picks up the piece and puts it right where it goes, matching shape and color to shape and color.. or number to number. Today as we were finishing her shape puzzle of choice, she held up the green triangle for me to announce it's title "And now.. the GREEN TRIANGLE!!!!" She started to slam it home when she stopped.. it was like a light went off in her little mind.. she ran over to the toy bins and rummaged around until she found the rhythm triangle.. she held it up to compare it with the green one in her other hand and grinned from ear to ear. "Mommy, is'a triangle!" she announced. It was precious. The recognition in her eyes.. I know it all sound so silly... but it was such a sweet moment. She went around the room finding more triangles and getting super excited about each one she found. I was so grateful to be with her.

It was only moments later that we were all banging away on the musical instruments in the room. The girls have seen the violin in books and on a story book dvd that we have... and they love it. They also know that mommy used to play the violin.. but for some reason I am desperately shy when it comes to my violin playing.. I have never played it for them. Until today. I glanced over from the tiny piano I was pinging away on and saw Ada sawing away at a stuffed animal on her shoulder with a drum stick making violin noises .. it was time. I had them sit down while I got Franz (yes, he has a name) out of the closet. I asked them if they wanted me to play them a song and they requested "Twinkle Star". It certainly was a moment. They listened and clapped and couldn't wait to try it for themselves. I showed them where to hold the bow and where to play between the bridge and the fingerboard and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did. They dug right into those strings. They were so patient, taking turns and helping each other keep the bow in the right spot while I fingered the notes. Just the three of us.. playing the violin.