We had a birthday event in our house this week, and we are now living with a two year old!
I have often assumed that tiny babies create the ultimate time-consuming, energy-sapping moments in life, but at least you have an excuse to sit down, and you get to hold them (and smell them) frequently. I wonder if I will have the abilities to once again enjoy that side of life, seeing the frenzied direction my growing-up family is headed. I feel like I have spent every single day this week treading water to stay afloat of the mess that should be my home, cooking, cleaning, baking, and laundry, and I have nothing to show for it! What am I doing wrong?! Does anyone think the earth really could be spinning faster, because my days never seem long enough.
I think we could call it David week because we ended up making two different birthday cakes, though neither of them were devoured on the actual birthday and there was plenty of sweet-stuff and new toys around to enjoy (I guess it's good that he has a holiday near his birthday too, so that we can also go overboard for him!) Our littlest guy was pretty oblivious to the fact that this was a special day for him, but enjoyed playing, singing and reading with his siblings, who helped him enjoy his presents, etc.
He got to visit the doctor where we learned that he still is larger than his siblings were, but he's a shrimp compared to the overall population. It was nice to not have him falling off the percentage charts though! We also learned that he was growing a lovely ear infection which explained some of the clingy, tantrum behavior of late. He was also referred to Early Intervention specialists by both my brother and our pediatrician, though we have yet to hear from these specialists.
I've noticed that while David still doesn't speak that well, he gets his message across in various ways. Tonight, I was doing laundry, and he came in with his frustration voice, pulling at me, and screeching to get me to come with him. I assumed he probably wanted something to eat, but instead, he was leading me to his bedroom, where he climbed on Andrew's bed and pointed to a car had fallen between the bed and wall. He was thrilled when I pulled it out!
He is also enjoys singing songs now. If you say anything about cleaning up (which is said often around here), he will do his little sing-song-y "ee UP, ee UP" and start picking something up. He associates "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" with diaper changing time and will point to his eyes and ears saying "ayhhhs, uhhhs" while I sing it. He also initiated "Popcorn Popping" and "Five Little Ducks" recently, which I could recognize by his two hand actions.
He adores being outside, and has twice opened the front door when it wasn't deadbolted to start heading down the street to our neighbor's "grass"! He and Andrew could likely spend all day in our backyard, if hunger didn't distract them.
Andrew is at that preschooler age--he goes to a semi-structured preschool co-op once a week, which he enjoys because he gets to be with friends. He loves to color, create, build, read, sing, write words, and count all while leaping, dashing and crashing throughout. Mess is his middle name, while hold still and sit down are quite meaningless to him.
Christopher still seems to be my child that I have to remind and push to get what I want accomplished. He has been called "The Absent-minded Professor" by a fellow classroom parent. He can be very helpful, but more often, there is something that will distract him from completing a task. He does seem to enjoy the nudge from a new direction with a job chart Cub Scout requirement. I was also amazed by a reading assessment recently that says he is at an almost seventh grade reading level.
Natalie maintains the estrogen levels in the home with her sweet, helpful actions and words most days, then suddenly plummeting to rage or despair over something that isn't how she had planned. She is tenacious and strong, and thus seems to be accomplishing some new feats, such as fifth and sixth place in multi-school running club races, and memorizing both hands of Minuet in G for a performance in a few weeks.
I have often assumed that tiny babies create the ultimate time-consuming, energy-sapping moments in life, but at least you have an excuse to sit down, and you get to hold them (and smell them) frequently. I wonder if I will have the abilities to once again enjoy that side of life, seeing the frenzied direction my growing-up family is headed. I feel like I have spent every single day this week treading water to stay afloat of the mess that should be my home, cooking, cleaning, baking, and laundry, and I have nothing to show for it! What am I doing wrong?! Does anyone think the earth really could be spinning faster, because my days never seem long enough.
I think we could call it David week because we ended up making two different birthday cakes, though neither of them were devoured on the actual birthday and there was plenty of sweet-stuff and new toys around to enjoy (I guess it's good that he has a holiday near his birthday too, so that we can also go overboard for him!) Our littlest guy was pretty oblivious to the fact that this was a special day for him, but enjoyed playing, singing and reading with his siblings, who helped him enjoy his presents, etc.
He got to visit the doctor where we learned that he still is larger than his siblings were, but he's a shrimp compared to the overall population. It was nice to not have him falling off the percentage charts though! We also learned that he was growing a lovely ear infection which explained some of the clingy, tantrum behavior of late. He was also referred to Early Intervention specialists by both my brother and our pediatrician, though we have yet to hear from these specialists.
I've noticed that while David still doesn't speak that well, he gets his message across in various ways. Tonight, I was doing laundry, and he came in with his frustration voice, pulling at me, and screeching to get me to come with him. I assumed he probably wanted something to eat, but instead, he was leading me to his bedroom, where he climbed on Andrew's bed and pointed to a car had fallen between the bed and wall. He was thrilled when I pulled it out!
He is also enjoys singing songs now. If you say anything about cleaning up (which is said often around here), he will do his little sing-song-y "ee UP, ee UP" and start picking something up. He associates "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" with diaper changing time and will point to his eyes and ears saying "ayhhhs, uhhhs" while I sing it. He also initiated "Popcorn Popping" and "Five Little Ducks" recently, which I could recognize by his two hand actions.
He adores being outside, and has twice opened the front door when it wasn't deadbolted to start heading down the street to our neighbor's "grass"! He and Andrew could likely spend all day in our backyard, if hunger didn't distract them.
Andrew is at that preschooler age--he goes to a semi-structured preschool co-op once a week, which he enjoys because he gets to be with friends. He loves to color, create, build, read, sing, write words, and count all while leaping, dashing and crashing throughout. Mess is his middle name, while hold still and sit down are quite meaningless to him.
Christopher still seems to be my child that I have to remind and push to get what I want accomplished. He has been called "The Absent-minded Professor" by a fellow classroom parent. He can be very helpful, but more often, there is something that will distract him from completing a task. He does seem to enjoy the nudge from a new direction with a job chart Cub Scout requirement. I was also amazed by a reading assessment recently that says he is at an almost seventh grade reading level.
Natalie maintains the estrogen levels in the home with her sweet, helpful actions and words most days, then suddenly plummeting to rage or despair over something that isn't how she had planned. She is tenacious and strong, and thus seems to be accomplishing some new feats, such as fifth and sixth place in multi-school running club races, and memorizing both hands of Minuet in G for a performance in a few weeks.
