Astonished.

One of the things I love about having Liv is that I don't have to guess how she feels.  If she is tired and sick of the grocery store, she has no problem arching her back and screaming like she is being stabbed in the shopping cart.  She also can't contain her excitement when she finds something she loves.  Adults aren't like that. It's good that they don't scream on the cereal aisle at the grocery store but it's not good because I feel like adulthood sometimes takes the wonder and excitement out of ordinary living.  All of sudden you have bills, Santa doesn't exist and you don't get a sticker when you don't cry at the dentist.  Life gets hard and with that, it becomes harder to feel excited. Stress and logic replaces wonder and astonishment. 

In 3 Nephi 2:1 it says:

"The people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen."

Children are easily astonished. Adults are suspicious and logical.  I miss feeling astonished at simple things like band aids magically healing any injury, worms on the sidewalk after it rained, and how good squeeze-its and dunkaroos tasted.

Having Liv makes me feel astonished at simple things.  If she sees a dog it's like the best day of her life. If we go to a park with a crappy slide that doesn't even twist, she acts like she just got a fast pass to Disneyworld.  The other day it snowed she went outside.  I think her face shows her feelings better than any caption.  The only weakness is that these photos don't have audio so you can't hear how high she shrieked at squealed every time she touched it.

I want to be more easily "astonishable".  I think that's one of the reasons that it's me that needs to learn to be more like her..."for such is the kingdom heaven."  I think heaven will be a dang good time if it's a lot of people who love life like Liv.  I'm so glad I have 32 pounds of heaven in my home even if she does scream on the cereal aisle.