"Mom, Neva is so pretty."

William ADORES Neva. Tonight, as I nursed Neva in the silence of their room I heard his little voice. "Mom, Neva is so pretty."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"You're pretty, too," he added as a concession.

"That's kind of you to say, Will."

Barrett always asks to hold her. At the worst times, I might add. "Hold Neva Mae, Mom?"

But seriously, Neva is PERFECT. Perfect. When she's tired and getting fussy, she doesn't cry. Instead, she starts to squeal happily. The more she squeals, the more tired she is, and the sooner I ought to lay her down.

She didn't even spike a fever after her vaccines. Not one degree! I asked her doctor, "Are they even working?"

She was so smiley at her pediatrician's appointment. When he and the nurse, on two separate occasions, listened with the stethoscope to her heart as I cradled her in my arms, she stuck out her little tongue and licked their hand the whole time. It was funny and adorable.

She's just a peach pie.

Ruminating

Last week, the kids and I gave James a ride to a Saturday afternoon VBS meeting. I don't know him too well, and I didn't want to rope him into 40 minutes of conversation if he was perfectly happy sitting in contented silence. (I was.) So besides a few bursts of conversation here and there, it was a quiet ride. The kids were absolutely mute.

Apparently Will thought quite a bit about it over the past week. Over several days he brought up the subject quite a bit.

Mom, why did we give James a ride?

(I explain- James' house is far away, he doesn't drive yet, we are helping him and his mom, etc.)

Why do we have to give him a ride again?

(More explanation. He's helping with VBS, etc.)

After it came up two or three times I asked, "Did you not like riding with James?"

"Well, I was very very quiet."

"Honey, you don't have to be quiet when we ride with James. You can talk all you want. That's okay."

So yesterday in the car, running errands, he brought it up again:

"Mom, does James like church?"

"What?"

"Well, we like Goodwill and Home Depot. What does James like?"

"I'm pretty sure he likes church, and maybe going to restaurants, and hanging out at his friends' houses..."

Pause.

"I think James likes his mom."

"I'm sure he does."

Pause.

"I think James wants to stay with his mom."

"Will, I'm getting the feeling that you don't want to give James a ride."

"No, no, no..... I DO want to give James a ride but... I think it's a lil' too far for him."

Pause.

"I would give him a ride in my lil' car in the basement, but he's too big." Pause. "My lil' car is slow, but... it's also fast."

"Your red car or your yellow tractor?"

"Well, I like my bike better."

"Okay. Well, buddy, if we have to give James a ride again, it'll be okay. You don't have to be quiet. You can talk if you want."

"Well, I will have to fall asleep."