Quirks. We all have them. You know, those little habits and behaviors we all have that make us a little weird- I mean unique. I find that quirks often run in families. I am enjoying the process of uncovering some of the quirks that Sasha already shares with her parents and siblings.
Big Sister Beth
When Sasha walks next to me she likes to hold hands. The next thing she does is to match my stride. What I mean is that she adjusts her steps so that her right foot and my right foot are stepping forward at the same time. She also avoids stepping on cracks or lines in the pavement. If she steps on a crack with her left foot, she also feels the need to step on the next crack with her right foot. Quirky. She shares this strange behavior with her big sister Beth. If Sasha starts humming songs all of the time we're in real trouble.
Big Brother Alex
Alex is our second born biological child. He passed away in December of 2004 at the age of 12. We love and miss him and his quirks. At least one of his quirks will be returning to our home with the arrival of Sasha. She makes little noises and sound effects with her mouth such as clicking her tongue and various other sounds. She'll often insert these into a sentence to help drive home her point, and perhaps to help us understand what she is saying since she is speaking Russian after all. Alex was a noisy fellow. We often laugh about how surprised we are that God didn't find him too noisy upon his arrival to heaven. Now he has a noisy little sister as well.
Big Brother Josiah
Josiah has been in our lives for a little more than a year now. We love him and often refer to him as our son. Josiah has done enough laundry at my house for me to confidently say that he is bad about checking his pockets before putting his clothes in the washer. He probably has the cleanest money, pens, cigarette lighters, etc. in town. Sasha sent clothes home for me to wash and bring back to Russia with us. I guess I was jet lagging and didn't check the pockets of her jeans. When I open the washer to transfer her clothes to the dryer, I was greeted by cherry flavored lip balm, several small wads of paper, two small hair clips, and many many sunflower seeds. Yes- sunflower seeds. Oh my.
Dad
Dan is a well organized fellow. He likes lists and plans and charts. He also likes to be touched and enjoys having his arm or back tickled. Sasha will be his little buddy in this area. Touch touch touch touch. She eats it up to the point that the two of them make me laugh. She also needs to know the plan at all times. So much so that we created a little calendar and chart for her to cross off the days until we return. This seemed to comfort her. Lord, help me.
Mom
Okay, so I have quirks too. Actually, I have a lot of quirks but one is a particularly bad habit that Sasha and I share. I am a nail biter. I bite my nails when stressed or anxious. Sasha is a fellow nail biter. On our first trip we were sitting next to each other in the orphanage directors office and she was biting her nails. She saw that I was watching her and quickly quit as if she was in trouble. I tapped her on the should and showed her my nails. Her reply was a little giggle and a big smile. Maybe we'll help each other stop.
So there you have it. The quirky Jensens. I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, normal is nothing more than a setting on your clothes dryer.
No comments:
Post a Comment