The last two days have been more than windy in The Wind Tunnel. With the weather being quite serious about changing seasons, we pulled out our sweatshirts and attempted to spend just as much time possible outside. Even though we were being blown over.
I've been telling myself to document the season we're in, as the boys are definitely changing and the longer I am a mother, the more I am understanding that change is inevitable. And to embrace it. Someone do tell me how to embrace the "Why?" stage. Seriously, other than seeing Kid's curiosity emerge, I feel like I am going to submerge, under water, for a long time.
Changes as of late:
Kid:
-"But, Why, Mommy, Whyyyyyyy?" To just about everything. I'm learning the fine balance of explaining to him 'why' in certain scenarios and teaching him how to be okay with a simple command. Seems to be working. So far.
-But, but, Goose: Okay. This is irritating. The arguing has begun! I challenged Kid to last for five minutes without starting his sentence with "But"... it was a difficult task indeed and he thought it was quite funny that it was so hard for him. The arguing is insane. Again, if he's reminded of how he's questioning me, he quickly changes gears, but I'm definitely noticing this as a developmental stage...another one I'm not fond of. Pleasant.
-Enamored with all things Sister! He is just in love with his little sister already. He is seriously so excited for her, he talks to her, pets her, and talks about her constantly. He's very excited to feed her a bottle and give her a paci...more incentive to pump, I suppose. Today he asked if she could take a nap with him. He said, "I will share my bed and make sure she is very warm. I just know she will want to be with me for her nap!"...Indeed she will, Son.
-Growing in the table manners category. The boys both can be quite wild and hard to control at dinner. They are usually so excited to see Daddy and this happens to be the lightest meal they eat, so the combination is stressful, however, Kid finally picked up on "Dinner is for conversation, not drumming or fidgeting"... and now he begins dinner with "What did you do at work today, Daddy?" "How was your day?". "Today we____". It's very cute to see him act like an adult. Somehow he still goes without eating much, though. Hmpf.
Bee:
-Yay! The vocabulary is growing! I was never quite worried, just curious, really, as to why this kid wouldn't just talk! He had the capability to, at times, he would say a whole sentence, but he just chose not to. Surprising, since it's Bee, and he has no such thing as a strong will. Ha! Wrong.
Anyway, he is now at the point that he willingly repeats everything you say. He uses his words often (My recent favorite: "NO, THAT'S MINE!!" for some reason, I love when he says it. Daddy Mock is warning me that I'm letting him get away with it, but it's just soooo cute when he says it!). Kid seems to know more of what he says than any of us. My other favorite "Air-eh-eeeees", for "there it is"... he says this all the time for spotting our car in the parking lot, finding something that was lost, etc. The tone is perfect, so even when you don't know what he's saying, you know. You know?
-Time outs: We've had to pull these out and they are quite effective. Mostly for when he's disobedient or aggressive, but I have also used them for tantrums and fits. He's shown quite a temper lately and his crib seems to be where he pulls it together... much like his older bro. He also understands a threat "Bee, if you climb up on the roof again, you'll get a time out" (kidding, but you get the point), and usually, he obeys...which makes me believe that he gets it. Nice.
-He definitely has the whole "hug and say you're sorry" down... in fact, both boys do, so much so that it's immediate when either of them wrong each other. One of my favorite things to witness as a parent is when these two are playing, one pushes the other, the defending party cries, the guilty party runs, hugs, kisses, and says, "I'm sorry"...without any Mommy intervention! Even though the depth of meaning may be gone, the other party seems not to notice and they both go along doing their thing. It's splendid!
As one can see, I'm paying very close attention to the changes in my household... I'm just so grateful to have a journal to document these boys' daily lives and all the effort we put in as parents. It is quite rewarding, really! If I may do so, I encourage any mom to document the difficult times of parenting and the fruit of the labor during those difficult times. It sure shows a light at the end of the tunnel and quickly reminds you that seasons change.
