she loves school so much she gets off the bus with a pout: it goes too fast.
Well, Calista left me this week to fall in love with another teacher and make new friends while I am figuring how to parent the boyz.
We are figuring out how to deal with the re-entry…
I have meanwhile perfected in 4 days the wake up XS from nap, give a snack and haul the boy in the jogger to the bus:) While the big brother bikes, of course.
shrooms! these beauties showed up in the midst of the rainstorms of late down the block
I am actually loving the time with the boys. I may have said out loud 1-2 times this week that I actually like having 2 boys. They are their best friends mostly, but other times, Elam simply doesn’t like XS. He will say it out loud and act like it. But minutes later (or after a good long sleep) he is loving him and XS is following E around like a puppy.
this was how a mom strategically utilizes a long sidewalk while dad picks out samples of flooring. Thank You Jesus it had stopped raining.
and this is how a mom strategically bakes a double batch of zucchini muffins
when she gets over the pout, she becomes the BEST babysitter
no caption needed
Overall, life with 2 boys is never quiet, lazy or boring. We play lots of PLANES (which needs it’s separate blog someday).
We play lots of cars. We run a lot. I do a lot of underdogs.
I also get time alone with Elam actually a bit more. He asks the best questions, such as:
Why did God give us eyelashes?
Are roads God’s hands? They seem to cover the world.
Do only daddy’s do announcements at church (such as this morning when men ruled the altar at church!)?
Or just the 1,000,000 times he asks “why” after I have asked him to stop doing or do something different. I wish I had a tape recorder going because I will forget most of these deep thoughts he has from time to time.
I do wonder what all is happening inside XS’ little mind. His language is explosive: sentences rattle out of him so fast we are lucky if we pick up 1-3 words but we are getting there. He knows almost all of the animals in our big books, he knows all the basic colors, major piece of construction machinery and so much more I cannot keep track.
But some things are going backwards: last week I did lots of laundry due to potty accidents (only wet ones thank You Jesus). He is starting to bite (Calista had a beauty on her inner thigh a few days back), scream again (sorry to our neighbors) and does a windmill hammer flail arm deal that you don’t want to run into. He also seems to be losing some common sense boundaries. He fell off a picnic bench tonight because he was scooting and got to the edge and didn’t stop. He runs into to people when it seems he could have seen them. He won’t eat things he did weeks ago. And sometimes he screams super loudly in the middle of the night.
But I am also learning how to discipline him, gently but firmly. When he calmly, clearly I might add, say “no” to an instruction (such as – time to go brush teeth!) I’ll pick up whatever toy or book or activity he is engaged with, take it away and say, no more of that. When you have done the task at hand you can have it back. It works almost every time.
He also is drinking milk, in small amounts, at meals. He is saying “hello!” to neighbors. Sometimes that is how we wake up in the morning: a whispered “hello mama/baba.” He is learning to wait his turn. He recognizes our “turn” for our street and if we drive past it for some reason he is concerned and asks where are we going!?
And today at church he went to Kids Corner, which is technically for 4 year olds and up, did the art project with his siblings helping and we got to listen to the whole sermon! Oh freedom for a few minutes was bliss.
Sometimes I feel as if I should blog about each of the 4 Askers I get to feed, clean up after and launder. Well, I launder their clothing at least… To watch these 4 conquer challenges, work together and love each other in spite of my impatience, control freakishness and sometimes bad temper it is such grace in clarity.
Tonight we enjoyed a bonus summer adventure to Brighton Beach with friends and watched the full moon rise over lake Superior. Then we raced home to get Brian to campus in time and I threw 3 kids in the shower. At the same time to save time.
Everyone was clean and in bed without drama. Calista, XS and I listened to this song before bedtime. It sums up how my spirit feels tonight. I cannot sing as Sarah Reeves does (Calista’s new fav) but I will use my keyboard for my microphone.
http://youtu.be/B-0oQrmFSwQ