Things to Love About 3

There are days when I think I will not survive the threes.

Today is not one of those days.


Things I Love About 3:  (Lest I ever forget)

No more diapers.

It's me he comes to when he is hurt or sad.

Listening to him "read" to his sister.

His ability to dance naked, in the front window, to the Bible School soundtrack, with no inhibition.

Unloading the dishwasher, putting laundry away, and washing the dishes are considered fun!

Watching him expand on his learning. (He's been repelling off of everything in sight ever since our visit to the fire house last month.)

The way he protects his little sister by holding her hand so she won't walk too close to the pool.

At restaurants, he asks his little sister if she wants chicken nuggets or cheesy toast so they can share the meal.

Watching the garbage truck is still one of our major weekly activities.

He doesn't go to bed without kissing his sister goodnight.

The way he hugs Miss Kim when we leave the library.

The way he talks about Jesus, just like He is one of us.

Have a favorite thing about 3? Leave a comment.

E Walk

Baby weight. At this point, I should  just call it "toddler weight". Who's with me here? You put on a few extra pounds because you were"eating for two," and now you are keeping those few extra pounds, because you're eating whatever your two year old doesn't finish. Plus also, you, like me, hate to exercise. Exercise creates sweat. Yuck.

However, in an effort to remove some of this "toddler weight", I recently declared that I will exercise every day. Now, what can I do to exercise when I have two toddlers to look after? (Seems like looking after two toddlers would be enough exercise in itself, but alas, I have confirmed otherwise.) So we have been taking a lot of stroller rides lately.

This week I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Exercise AND teach my three year old about the letter E, which is the first letter of his name.

We loaded up the stroller with the kids and the camera, and headed out down our street. I thought we'd have to walk up to Main Street to find Es because we live in a neighborhood and surely there would be more Es on a business street. However, we found most of our Es right on the street where we live. You'd be surprised how much print is out there!

We found Es on our stroller, on tires, on a truck, on the playground equipment and on signs! We stopped to point out and take pictures of each E we found.

My son is just beginning to take interest in letters, so we focused our search on capital E, which he readily recognizes. Sometimes I would point out and E,  but sometimes he would find the letter first!

When we came home, we used the computer to put together a simple book of our walk. That way we can read our book, remember our walk, and find the same Es all over again!

If I were really ambitious, I'd laminate the book and let Eboy use a dry erase marker to circle the Es, but I'm just not that ambitious. Guess I need to get out and get some more exercise!

I love you, even when I'm not holding you

So, by nineteen months old, a little girl should be able to just lie down in her cribby and settle herself to sleep, right? Apparently not- if you're MY little girl.

After several previous attempts at You Will Fall Asleep By Yourself Or Else Boot Camp, this is the week we are going to succeed. You know how it is. You start a good sleeping routine, and just when you're settling into the pattern, the baby gets sick or starts teething. Then you feel too guilty not to rock her to sleep, so you rock her to sleep- just one night- and all of your hard work is ruined. You have to start all over again, only each time you start over, it feels harder!

So tonight I read her her story, gave her two nunnies (one for the mouth and one for the hand),  wrapped her in her beebee (blankie), gave her a bottle, rocked her while I sang a song, told her I loved her and then put her in her cribby to fall asleep on her own.

I was just sneaking out the door when the blood curdling scream began. She wasn't going to let me get away with it! Of course, THIS is the week we are going to succeed, so all I can do is lie in the hall outside of her room and listen to the screaming. I mean it was like someone was pulling her toenails out one by one.

Every few minutes she threw in a, "Mommy, hold me!" Just what I needed- an extra, ginormous dose of guilt. (This is why it is recommended you train your child to sleep before the age of 1. That way, the child cannot use actual words to induce extra guilt.)

5 minutes later, I went in, hugged her, gave her the nunny she had dropped, and rubbed her back. I was sneaking out the door again, and the crying ensued.

Again I was lying in the hallway, passing time before the next time I could go it to comfort her. I was thinking, "She has everything she needs in that cribby of hers. She's got a clean diaper, a full belly, a nunny, and her blankie. I've told her that I love her, and she still screams. I know she will be ok, but she doesn't see it that way. I know she can fall asleep on her own, even though she doesn't think she can. I tell her I love her, even when I'm not holding her."

Then it occured to me that this is what God must feel like sometimes. I'm not saying that I can even begin to know what it's like to be God, but hear me out. . .

How many times have we been like Baby? We've been feeling lonely, feeling scared, frustrated and abandoned. We've cried out to God in these moments, and God has given us everything we've needed, but we just haven't seen it that way. He has been there to comfort us in these moments, but we were too busy screaming to realize He was right there with us.

Just like my love for Baby doesn't diminish or dissapper when I walk through her door at night, God's love never dimishes or disappears.

He loves us all the time, even in the moments we can't see or feel him.

All Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. - 2 Corinthians 1:3

Whose Kid Are You?

Come on. Admit it. You've had that moment. You're in public and your kid does something totally weird. You look at your kid and exasperatedly ask, loudly enough that the people next to you will hear, "Whose kid are you?!" Lately, I feel like this is happening more  and more often in my world.

Most recent whose-kid-are-you moment with my three year old son, Boo?
Picture it. We're visiting a picturesque farm in Sullivan Country, PA. We don't know the farmer. He's a friend of a friend. So the farmer is being very hospitable. He invites us over, shows us around, lets us feed and pet his two fawns, etc. Now this is a "retired" farm, so some of the animals just mosey around the yard and such. So we're standing there, talking to this nice man (farmer), when up meanders a donkey. "Perfect," I think! And I begin pointing out the donkey to Boo, telling him that this donkey is like the one Jesus rode. Here comes the moment-
-wait for it-
Boo squats down and cranes his head to view the donkey's peeper, and gasps, "Wow!"

I stand there not knowing whether to be appalled or amused and feel a little bit of both. Yep. Leaves you wanting to ask, "Whose kid are you?!"

Do you ever wonder how many times a day God looks down on us and is both amused and appalled by the things we do and say? I mean imagine all of the bad choices, inappropriate behaviors, and insensitive things we say each day. And yet he loves us still. He loves us despite it all.

Have a whose-kid-are-you moment to share? Leave it in my comments!

Well, here I go. I am trying out this blog thing for the first time ever. Of course the first thing I want to do is change the name of my blog. You would think a person with two college degrees could figure something like that out. But alas, mommy-brain strikes again. I am signing off now in search of help, though I'm not sure the help button on the computer can offer the extent of help I need! Wouldn't it be great if mom-life had a big help button?

And a little voice from upstairs calls, "Mommy! What you doin'?"

Really signing off this time.