A Glimpse

Josiah is now older than the twins we when he was born.  Looking at how life is now with two four year olds and a two year old, I can kind of see why I've felt so overwhelmed and busy for the last two and a half years.  Josiah takes a lot of time and energy.  And when I think about that time and energy times two for my twins I'm kind of amazed that we survived.  But then when you add a newborn into the mix, it helps me understand the craziness.  Every now and then I get a glimpse into how life will be once we're out of the toddler stage.  The other day I was in the office doing something on the computer while Glen had the three boys in the living room playing wii games.  None of them were missing me or needing something from me.  They were all having fun together and I had some much needed time to myself.  So much of my life over the last four and a half years has been dedicated to taking care of the needs of the rest of the family.  I've really seen how selfish I am as a person, rather than selflessly giving to them, I've done it begrudgingly sometimes and wondered when it was my turn to be taken care of.  I don't really like seeing that side of me, but I do think it helps me to be aware of how my attitude can and should improve. 

For the past couple months Luke and Micah have been earning popsicle sticks for good behavior (and losing them for bad behavior).  We were working on filling a cup with popsicle sticks and when it was full I promised them a prize at the store.  I didn't know exactly how that would go, so we played it by ear.  A few weeks ago we were at a large super center store and Luke spotted some ninja turtle action figures.  He's been asking for one ever since, even praying for one on occasion.  So two days ago I had some grocery shopping to do, so I decided to take them to get their prizes.  L and M both chose a ninja turtle (Josiah chose a famous race car toy).  And they've been playing nicely with those toys ever since we brought them home.  They've had barely any screen time because they were so busy with their new action figures.  It's been wonderful.  And I realized that sometimes it's not the worst thing to indulge your kids in the toys they really really want.  However, I doubt they would be as in love with them if I'd gotten them for them the first time they asked.  They've built it up in their minds over time so that when they finally have them in their hands, it's like heaven to them.  I really do like to buy things for my kids.  It makes me happy to make them happy, but I think the lesson is that the toy will have much more value when they've had to wait for it. 

Josiah is pretty near potty trained now.  He's in underwear all day and still in diapers at night.  About half the nights he will be dry all night.  I'm hoping I'm not causing him to be lazy at night by putting him in a diaper instead of underwear.  But we have diapers to use up and I'm not quite ready to commit to getting up to change him and the sheets multiple times a week.  He's still struggling with #2.  He's scared to do it in the toilet or the potty chair, but he also knows he's not supposed to do it in his underwear.  When he gets really desperate he'll ask me to change him (put him in a diaper), and then he still fights it, but at least he's getting it out.  Poor guy.  I feel bad for him because he's more than ready to be potty trained, he's just not ready for #2, but he's ready enough to struggle with where to do it.  I'm so proud of him.  He's not even two and a half yet.  It was all his doing, I didn't really do anything to help the process except to take him potty when he asks.  He's a rock star!

The other day we were driving to a water park about an hour away from home.  Micah spotted something in the distance, I can't remember what it was.  When we acknowledged it he asked if he has eagle eyes.  So then Luke started playing the game and spotted a green sign ahead of us (it was so big and close, you really couldn't miss it) and said he has cheetah eyes.  They're so silly and fun.

Last Sunday I took Micah to the pool by ourselves.  He wore one of the life vests they provide.  For the first little bit he stuck close to the side of the pool and the ramp.  But eventually I convinced him to jump into my arms in the pool.  That lead to more and more bravery and eventually he figured out how to kick his legs to swim.  He was so proud of himself.  He'd swim past someone and tell them "I'm swimming!"  Sometimes people would praise him and other times they'd ignore him.  At one point he said "I'm the best swimmer ever!" and another time he said "This is the best day ever!"  It was a proud moment for him and for me.  He eventually got to the point where he could swim away from me while I just sat on the edge of the pool.  The next day we went to that water park I mentioned above.  He did the same thing at that pool.  One time while Glen was hanging out with Luke and Josiah he pointed out to me that Micah was swimming away from me.  Having seen him swim the day before I was not worried, but Glen hadn't realized he could swim so well.  We did go out and buy the big boys puddle jumpers which they really liked.  Luke got to the point where he would swim if he could hold on to my arm and he was willing to float as long as he knew he could put his feet down and touch the bottom.  I think it will be his turn to go swimming 1:1 with me next time.