Thursday, October 30, 2014

Today

Today Will, for the first time in his short life, told me, "I need to go pee-pee," then proceeded to aim like a pro and- before I could say a word- pee all over his basket of musical instruments.

Today I realized I've become a pro at feeding Barrett sideways, since whenever he and Will are eating together, he is permanently turned toward his brother.

Today I actually breathed a sigh of relief - instead of despair - when I realized Brian was going to be home late after hunting. An extra 3.5 hours to wait on dinner!

Today was actually a pretty good day.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Season

I have a few posts on my Drafts, waiting to be finished.

I'm in a season of life right now when I'm not getting much accomplished!

Right now I'm typing this hurriedly, DEFINITELY on borrowed time. I'm shocked Barrett's not up yet. My little guy is still the happiest, most easy-going baby, but he's not sleeping a whole lot. He gets up one to two times a night and wakes up quite early, usually between 6 and 7. I'm always awake then, since that's when Brian leaves for work, but I mourn the loss of my mornings... my recharge station for the day. And the night feedings are impacting my energy during the day, too. I'm not sure what to do about them. I remember Will going through this phase... and it was just that: a phase. It ended. And since Barrett needs to grow a bit, I'm willing to give him the extra food. Still, it's always verrrrrry exciting and refreshing when he sleeps through the night. Becoming more and more infrequent, though.

The other thing that's been absorbing my time is feeding this little guy. He gets about three meals of solid food a day, and each one takes at least 45 minutes to spoon into his mouth. I'm trying to be thankful for this time of forced sitting for me, but it's hard not to think about what I could be doing!

I know, I know -
1. I have SO much to be thankful for.
2. He will outgrow this in what feels like two minutes and he will be feeding himself soon.
3. It's just a season.

I find myself repeating that phrase a lot lately. Whether it's Will's meltdowns (tame but frequent) or Barrett's wakefulness, I know 'this too shall pass'. I love my boys so much. But yesterday it hit me how much I thrive when I have a couple hours in the day to myself. I guess the Lord gave me this morning, then, to take a breath.

Lately Will has been playing with his little Duplo men, making them have conversations with each other. It's incredible to hear. I know that seems like a tiny thing, but it's not to me. He's also enjoying listening to Adventures in Odyssey in the morning. I love that his imagination is able to encompass that. He's learning how to be gracious with Barrett, who's more and more interested in [destroying] whatever he's doing. I tell him that he can say, kindly, "No, no, Barrett," as long as he gets him another toy. (Sometimes this results in Will hoarding all the blocks, crying, "NO NO BARRETT! Go play cars!") He's also allowed to move his toys up to his little table, out of Barrett's reach. He doesn't always follow these guidelines, but he really is doing better each day. And yesterday, as I saw him playing peekaboo with Barrett in his highchair, making his little brother laugh and laugh, and then witnessed him kiss Barrett on the head without any prompting, I decided that forcing him to be nice to Barrett is NOT making him resentful of his little brother. I believe it's causing him to have genuine feelings of love for him.

Well, Barrett's awake! But we're not going anywhere today. It's a full day at home. Ahhh. So I plan to enjoy it and maybe.... just maybe... I'll finish up some of those Draft posts.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Today

Today we went to the zoo, and Will was more intrigued by the machines doing construction work there than by the rhino and the lion that stood about ten yards away from us.

Today we watched Will share his sippy cup of water with Barrett, alternating sips as they both sat in their chairs at dinner. All his idea.

Today Will chased Bo around, yelling for him to COME BACK AND EAT YOUR FOOD BO! Such a big brother.

Today a tired Barrett, playing with toys while I quickly vacuumed, fell backwards onto the floor and, instead of rolling over and getting back up, just laid there and looked around for about ten minutes... until I came over to see if-what the heck-is he paralyzed? Nope, just chilling.

Will's imagination is blooming every day, more and more. It's the most magical and rewarding part of parenting so far. Either that, or the way Barrett crawls into my lap and sits contentedly when he's all done playing. I love this job.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Book favorites - 29 months (almost)

Now that Will's getting older, he is much less discriminatory when it comes to books. Further, I can pretty much read the given text in any of these and it holds his attention (when I used to have to improvise a shortened version). We still stick to brief books (since he's two). There are many more years for The Chronicles of Narnia, I guess.

So here's a reallly quick list of what we've been reading lately. He loves it all!

The Napping House
Don and Audrey Wood

Didn't think he would like this story. He really, really does. (Amazing illustrations, by the way.)

Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus
James Dean

This is a perpetual favorite. Will has started singing along with me, and for that, I am so happy. I wouldn't buy it, but he keeps wanting to get it from the library, so... okay, then.

If You Give... books
Laura Numeroff/Felicia Bond

My personal favorite is Moose a Muffin, but Will doesn't seem to be choosy. We've read Moose, Cat, Dog, Pig (Pancake and Party), and Take a Mouse to School. I plan to get the rest out soon!

Duck in the Truck series
Jez Alborough

I wasn't a huge fan of the 'moral' of the Duck in the Truck original book, but after borrowing the rest of the series from the library, I've come to appreciate these books a lot more. Duck is a bumbling, thick-headed, well-intentioned bird. He's always getting his friends in some kind of scrape because he just doesn't think. We've read Fix-It Duck (my fave), Captain Duck, Hit the Ball Duck (Will's fave), and Super Duck. Still want to borrow Where's My Key?

Jack's House
Karen Magnuson Bell/Mike Wohnoutka

Lots of big construction equipment and a cute dog. What's not to love?

Hush, Little Digger
Ellen Olson-Brown/Lee White

A boy, his dad, and a bunch of heavy construction equipment. This one came in particularly handy when Brian was gone. I think it made Will miss him more!

My Truck is Stuck
Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk


I Drive a Bulldozer
Bridges/Alderman/Shea


B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC
Sobel/Iwai


This is My Tractor (Chris Oxlade)
and Big Machines: Tractors (David and Penny Glover)

I highly recommend Big Machines over the other, but Will loves them both.

Bob's Busy Year
Tricia Boczowski

We got this from the library and then... we lost it. Couldn't find it anywhere. So I ordered a new copy online and the day it came, we found the library version. I'm thankful we did, because Will carries this everywhere. It's safe to say Bob is his best friend and most cherished compadre.

Llama Llama Time to Share
Anna Dewdney

This, so far, is the only Llama series book he's really liked. I love hearing him ask me to read "Wama, wama."

No, David!
David Shannon

I think he is mesmerized by all the terribly naughty things David is doing.

The Three Little Rigs
David Gordon

In searching for this image, I saw that Gordon's also written The Ugly Truckling and Hansel and Diesel. We'll have to check those out! In this book, however, Will for some reason loves to talk to the Big, Bad Wrecking Ball. Even when I make the Ball respond, "I don't care!", Will still wants to tell him all about his day. I usually encourage him to tell his stories to the Little Blue Rig, who is always more receptive.

Do you see a pattern, here?
Can you tell that my kid likes trucks, tractors, and construction?

Nevertheless, let me finish up with my personal favorite.

Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball
Churchill/Fuge

This book is so great. The illustrations are adorable. The text is rhyming. It lends itself to being either a great bedtime story OR a great "let's move around" book to get us active. And without fail, at the end, Will curls up next to me for a hug and asks, "Read 'gain?"