When you have a child, you want him or her to be able to succeed. To take on the world and win.
When you have two, you want them to do that together.
And some other fun pictures from the park today:
Hayden dancing on the stage and singing his ABCs
What have you done to help prepare your kids to take on the world—including giving them a sibling to work side-by-side with?
This afternoon, I was struggling with Rebecca, who has recently decided that she would prefer not to have her diaper changed ever again. Hayden watched the writhing and screaming (from both of us) and offered some pointers (he’s already learning how to be a dad! 😉 ).
“Becca do not want to be wiped.”
I agreed with his astute assessment.
“You not wipe her?”
“I have to wipe her,” I explained. “She’ll get hurt if I don’t.” Apparently we’ve had the diaper rash discussion enough times before that he accepted this without argument. But after a moment, he offered one more piece of advice to help us avoid future encounters of the #2 kind:
“Becca, stop pooping.”
What incredibly logical arguments did/do your toddlers or preschoolers make?
Last week (almost two weeks ago, man), we celebrated Rebecca’s first birthday with my in-laws. She got some fun toys, a couple adorable outfits and a cute towel set (which is doubly good, since she’s never had any towels of “her own.” Poor deprived kid.).
We had angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. She ate almost her entire piece!
(That’s my hand at the bottom telling Hayden expressly not to blow out the candle. Not that I thought Rebecca would/could, but man, give her a chance! Going through the ~125 photos on the camera to find this one, though, I found enough pictures by Hayden to complete his photographic introspective, The World from Waist-Level.)
July was a crazy-busy month for us. My family was in town for a family reunion and extended visit, and then we rushed down for another family reunion. (10+ hours in the car each way. Have I ever mentioned that the kids don’t sleep in the car for more than 45 minutes a day?) I hope things will get more normal for us now, but as much as I like the new-found quiet, it’s sometimes a little empty.
What are your favorite parts of your family visits? Least favorite?
Rebecca is growing up! While she’s still physically quite small, every once in a while I’ll notice how long her legs are getting or how chubby her little belly is. (Especially after dinner!)
Last week, she finally learned to pull herself to standing. It took her a while to reach that milestone, but she’s really caught on! And a week or so before that, I pulled her hair back into pigtails for church—and she really looked like a big girl!
The ten minutes of wrestling and screaming to get her hair that way, we haven’t attempted it again. But we will at some point.
Her first birthday is coming up quick—it’s hard to believe it’s only been a year, but it’s hard to believe it’s already been a year!
How do you celebrate first birthdays? Do you think the time continuum of early childhood (where the days drag but the months fly by) gets better or worse as time goes on?
A couple weeks ago, I read a book that I just thought was fabulous (so did Jane of Seagull Fountain, which is where I heard about it). It was one of those books where the characters really seemed to come alive.
Sarah, the protagonist, becomes a mother fairly early on in the book. Although this isn’t a major theme in the book, she struggles with motherhood at first, starting with a very difficult labor, and continuing with a hard adjustment to motherhood, for her and for her marriage. In her journal, Sarah writes:
I wonder if every new mother feels as if there is nothing left of herself. Every minute of my day and every last thing I do is tied to this little someone else.
—Nancy E. Turner, These is my Words, p 120
That was very much how I felt when I first became a mother. It was supposed to be all joy and roses, but it seemed to be all baby, all work, all the time.
Now, though, I’m beginning to get a little distance from that work. Hayden is pretty independent—he can open the fridge by himself now. He seems to be turning more and more into a small person (instead of a baby or a toddler) every time I look at him.
Rebecca is eleven months old now, and, as I’ve said a number of times in the last couple days, her cuteness quotient has leapt to near-lethal levels. I’m able to have time to myself, play with the kids, and (due very largely to the support and efforts of my husband), the house hasn’t fallen down around my ears.
Every minute of my day and every last thing I do isn’t tied to them (though still many if not most of my minutes and most of the things I do, especially during their waking hours). I’ve gotten to the point where I can get some, if not all, of “my” own, personal stuff done—and I think it’s done wonders for my sense of fulfillment and accomplishment overall.
What do you think? Is being able to do something by yourself, for yourself vital to fulfillment?
(By the way, has anyone read the sequels to These is my Words? Are they as good as the first (or at least worth reading 😉 )?)
When we were preparing to potty train Hayden, I tried to think of a big incentive for him once he was all done potty training (back when I was dreading a months-long battle toward the potty)—and I found it.
Swim lessons
Hayden latched on to that idea like no other, even though when I first mentioned it, it was the middle of winter. And from the day we potty trained him, he hardly let a day pass without asking if we were going swimming.
Like the mean mother that I am, I made him wait three whole weeks until lessons started at the city’s outdoor pool.
I think it was worth it:
Rebecca spectating
Does he like it?
Oh yeah!
