Precious moments

This morning we had 10 minutes between when Claire woke up and when I had to depart for work.  And in those 10 minutes, I gave Claire a time out.  Quality time, huh?  The first thing she said to me this morning was, "I got owwie!  I fell!" (she fell at Dairy Queen last night and scrapped her elbow).  The second thing was, "I don't like Max!".  When she wouldn't apologize to Max, she found herself in time out.  In this house, we apologize.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to spending time with them tonight.  After a delicious meal of take-out pizza and a fabulous walk around the neighborhood, we came home to relax for a few minutes before putting the kids to bed.

She's being a two year old and refusing to look at the camera

When we got home, I laid on the floor and Claire came over to sit on me and wrestle/tickle/play/have fun.  Since Max is now crawling (!!) he decided all on his own to crawl over and join the fun! 

Max loves to show affection by planting kisses (aka sucking on my chin or slobbering on my cheek).  Note Claire's owwie on her elbow from last night.  And it looks like Max and I are making out but we really aren't.  At least I'm not. 

Max takes a breather before going in for more.

And this, here, was the moment that made my day.  The moment that made me forget about my two+ hours commuting, about the chores waiting for me around the house, about everything on my mind.  In this moment, Claire gave me a big hug and said, "Mommy's precious".  Yep, I think this may be my favorite age.