Recently I've noticed that Josh is a very different 2 than June was. Josh whines. A lot. I'm kind of use to it because he whined a lot when he wasn't feeling well as a baby and early toddler, but this whining is in protest to his brother and general displeasure. Life stinks when you are 2, doncha know.
That said, aside from the whining, Josh's 2 is a breath of fresh air. I love June with all my heart and I'm so welcoming the age of 4 because I hope to get my sweet boy back, but MAN June was a hard 2 and 3. Josh does some typical 2 year old things and I realize that the "terrible twos" (by the book) don't start until 2.5 so I could read this post in 3 months and laugh at myself, but Josh is just a fun kid.
He's funny and cute as a button. He doesn't want to give out hugs and kisses, much less receive them, but he loves to cuddle when reading books and I still manage to sneak in cuddles when he doesn't realize. Josh is strong willed to some point. He can stand his ground with June and doesn't obey every request (I'd be worried if he did) but he also knows cause and effect and has the self control to stop a behavior if it is correlated with a consequence that he doesn't want. He plays so incredibly well with others. Josh is huge on parallel play so I don't entirely know how he will be when he needs to share and play hand-in-hand with another child, but recent playdates have been a breeze with Josh (SO contrary to playdates with June... polar opposite!). Josh plays well with the toys and children.
It's just interesting to see differences emerge in kids.
Tonight I had just Josh and Elizabeth and we went to GoodWill (my FAVORITE store). I was selfishly looking for plates for a project I'm planning and Josh was beyond well behaved. He sat in the cart and kept telling me "Look Mommy... that plate is pretty!" And he'd point out random objects or tell me their color. It was a dream! Absolute dream! Eliz happily sat in her seat too. ::heaven:: I did end of getting quite a few organizational pieces and 2 plates all because I could look and enjoy the store. Josh was amazing.
Granted, June had always ALWAYS been good in stores too but Josh is usually a bit of a spit fire. I think he enjoyed the attention I was giving him and with his language, he can fully communicate and seems more content because of it.
Overall, I'm just loving to watch Josh grow. He's such a cool little person and I can't wait to see who he becomes. I don't like to label but quite frankly, I do. June is my sensitive, strong willed, sweetheart... Josh is my cute, comical... I need to work on the rest of Josh, but it's fun to see who he is becoming (and to see that some of the -trying- things June did as a 2, Josh doesn't. Praise the Lord.) :)
During the day, if I were to post I'd write not-so-great, "does she even LIKE her kids" type of posts and quite frankly, that's life with 3 little ones. It's 10:51 and I probably have about 30-45 minutes of cleaning left to do on a Saturday night after an enjoyable, but busy day with the kids and Jim.
Life is busy... my kids are little and while they are little there is a TON more work for me to do (cleaning endlessly bc kids are messy, laundry out the wazoo bc kids are messy, the daily grind of get.them.dressed-.-feed.them-.-change.a.diaper-.-wipe.a.nose-.-read.a.book-.-break.up.a.fight-.-nurse.a.baby-.-run.an.errand-.-kiss.a.boo.boo-.-feed.them.again-.-wipe.a.spill-.-wipe.a.butt-.-give.a.cuddle-.-start.a.nap-.-start.another-.-engage.a.non.napper-.-tidy.up-.-engage.again-.-nap.over-.-cook.dinner-.-feed.dinner-.-take.a.walk-.-bathe.kids-.-jammies.on-.-nurse.a.baby-.-daddy.does.boy.books.&.bed-.-wash...rise...repeat.) See... busy!
Hopefully all the work I put in will reap them benefits of positive self images, happy memories, and sibling bonds that defy words. But yanno, it's hard. There are days where I feel like a martyr and just want to be alone... really alone... for a LONG time and in the course of a day it's hard to "enjoy" life sometimes. There are times I'm not happy. There are times I'm not nice. I'm busy. I'm tired. But at night when I can sit down without being mommy-ed and can just think, I never second guess my life or my kids. In moments of tranquility I feel so beyond blessed for every nose I wipe and every tantrum I come across. These kids are amazing little creatures and I have the best seat in the house to see them grow, learn, and become who they are.
I wouldn't trade it for all the alone-time in the world.
(but don't remind me of that when I'm at my wits end in full-mommy-mode at 11am tomorrow) ;)
2 comments:
And you'll hear this from veteran mom's all the time and, like most of us, you'll ignore it or not really ABSORB it somehow but Enjoy it! Enjoy. It.
Period.
Because in about fifteen minutes, give or take, they will be 11 and 13, or 17 and 19 or no longer living with you and you will look back and think "WTH happened? Where are my babies? Where did they GO?"
You will love these new, bigger, more fully formed people too, but it's always a pang of sadness, of loss, when I realize my two year old is truly gone. That the funny little person that he or she was has been absorbed by a funny and wonderful older person (blessing that it is that they grow healthy and happy) but still - gone. Truly.
Love your blog and will be following for more!
Thank you Kimberly... I always have that thought in the back of my head bc I hear it often and I'm not going to lie it's hard to let that sink in, but I will internalize it bc I know there is truth to it. :) I'm glad you are enjoying my blog. I'm far from a pro writer but I'm loving the fact that I'm getting memories in writing. :) I appreciate the compliment.
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