My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Since Jimmy was born and I’m frequently tied up in another room changing, dressing or feeding him, I’m now encouraging the girls to be more independent.  I’ve spent the last few years doing things for the girls in an (often futile) attempt to control our surroundings, but now I need them to be more self-sufficient.  For example, I always preferred to pick out their clothing and dress them myself to avoid clashing patterns/fights over outfits/stuck arms and legs.  And I didn’t let them help themselves to the snacks in the pantry in order to cut down on the spills and the inhalation of contraband food.  And I didn’t let them drink out of “big girl cups” because I didn’t want to clean up the spills. 

But now.

Now I’m trying to get the girls to fend for themselves, and they think they won the lottery.

Hungry?  Go grab something out of the cupboard.  

Bored?  There’s a pile of toys and books.  Have at it. 

Dirty?  You know where the towels are.

It’s not that I coddled them before.  In fact, I’ve always tried to make sure the girls had plenty of time where they had to play by themselves so they could use their own imaginations not become abnormally dependent on me.  And I’ve always tried very hard to avoid fussing over them, especially when they get bumped and bruised (Just ask my mom, who I think is mildly horrified every time I inform one of my wailing girls that their injury “isn’t so bad.  You’re fine.  Run it off”).  

In fact, I’m a fan of “Free-Range Kids,” a website devoted to curbing the trend toward so-called “helicopter parenting” where moms and dads hover and micro-manage the lives of their children (Disclaimer: I don’t agree with everything on that site, so don’t think I’m going to be abandoning my toddlers at a park any time soon to play by themselves or anything!).

But I’m having to come to terms with the fact that sometimes having more independent children requires more work on my part.  Because when they come to me and say they’re thirsty, I tell them to go grab a bathroom Dixie cup and fill ‘er up at the bathroom sink (the only sink they can reach via a stool).  But I don’t always remember my kids’ fascination with running water.  A drink turns into a hand-washing marathon, which turns into an involuntary bath. 

It’s strange how the cleaner my kids try to get, the messier my house gets!

Sorry for the absence!  A strong storm blew through our area on Thursday evening, knocking out power to our neighborhood until late Saturday night, so we were camping out at my in-laws’ home this weekend.  We were very blessed that the storm did only minimal damage to our property, and thankful for Jim’s parents’ hospitality.  We’re a large, noisy, messy crew to house at a moment’s notice!  Thanks so much, Mom and Dad! 

So although our fridge now looks like this, thanks to the removal of spoiled food…

…our smiles now look like this, thanks to the relief of being home again!

(Blue mustache and beard is an added plus, thanks to some unsupervised crayon “chapstick” application!). 

I hope this quick video makes you smile!  I’ve already watched it a dozen times, and I smile right back at Jimmy every time! 

I was going to wait and do my next Jimmy update at eight weeks, but I feel like he’s changed so much in the last two weeks that his development deserves an interim post.  

At six weeks, Jimmy is:

• Eating every 3-4 hours during the day (closer to 4 hours the last few days) and going 5-6 hours for one stretch at night (even 7 glorious hours one night!)
• Staying awake for a little over an hour from the beginning of a feed until he gets tired
• Falling asleep on his own with usually only a little fussing
• Filling out 0-3 month clothing
• Having one diaper “blow-out” per day requiring a change of clothing (sorry for the detail!)
• Wearing Size 1 diapers
• Starting to smile occasionally
• Holding his head up without much effort
• Pushing his body up on his legs when you hold him upright in your lap
• Fussing when he’s left alone during awake time; he’s a very social guy
• Warming the hearts of his family and friends!