My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Jimmy may have been a little put out that he wasn’t initially in the pool with his sisters and Aunt Angie, but he contented himself with his personal flotation device.

His time would come!

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Jimmy’s love for the water makes his daddy jump for joy!

I think my habit of sitting outside and reading news articles on my phone while the kids play in the driveway has led to a few copycats (although I’m never wearing my Sunday best like they are!).   

Even Jimmy’s getting in on the act!

Becky, in the four years I’ve known you, you never cease to amaze me.  I can’t get enough of your quick wit, your tender love for your siblings, your joyful exuberance, your confident leadership, your physical energy (a.k.a. wiggliness!), your love of books, TV, princesses, and the color red, your blissful disregard for all the rules of fashion, your sweet attachment to special people (your cousins and Aunt Julie most of all!), your eager helpfulness, your incredible imagination, your gleeful off-key singing, your goofy spirit, your nonstop excited chatter, your passion for roughhousing, your love of outdoor adventures, your wish to be like your daddy (and you ARE like him, more than you know, with your intensity, competitiveness and confidence!), your slowly but surely growing pigtails, and your desire to take on the world!  I love you, dearest Becky.  Happy Birthday!

I find myself getting more and more sentimental about Jimmy’s babyhood as the time approaches where he will no longer be the baby of the family.  It feels like he zoomed by so many baby stages that he’s practically a little man already.  Here’s a snapshot of his personality and routine these days:

·         Loves to play rough.  Loves to run headfirst into his sisters when they’re wrestling, and throw his entire body weight into the wriggling mass of bodies.  Lately, he’s been opening his mouth and eyes open very wide, and tipping his head slightly back, before he plunges into them, or before he throws himself onto a bed or a pillow or down a slide.

·         Has a temper.  He wants what he wants when he wants it!  When a contraband item gets taken away from him, he throws himself down on the floor and sometimes bangs his head on the floor for extra measure.  Fortunately, he snaps out of it very quickly. 

·         Loves to be outside, doing anything…chasing the cat, pushing himself along on a toy car, swinging on the swings, or just running in the grass.

·         Wants to do anything and everything his sisters are doing, and is a very perceptive copycat.  He desperately wants to play with whatever the girls are playing with, including scissors and glue, which means that I have to limit a lot of craft and puzzle activities for the girls to when Jimmy is napping, otherwise he’d be getting into the supplies every few minutes.    

·         Is definitely in the “fill and dump” stage of play, where he puts everything into a bucket or bowl, dumps it merrily out, and then starts over.

·         Still loves his security blanket, but doesn’t cuddle with me as much anymore, even when he’s holding it.  About ten seconds of cuddle time is about as much as I get!

·         Does really well in the car (still rear-facing).  He plays peek-a-boo with his sisters and just enjoys the drama that inevitably unfolds in the backseat. 

·         Shows no fear of water.  Wants to climb right into the pool, the lake, the bathtub, and actually loves when his head gets drenched, even if he’s not expecting it.  He could play in the bath for hours – I still have him sitting in the infant tub inside the master tub, so he’s contained while his sisters play beside him. 

·         Still takes two naps, although he sometimes plays through a good portion of the morning nap.  His current schedule is: Wakes up around 8am, naps 10-11:30am, naps again 2:30-4:30 or 5, and down for night at 8 or 8:30pm. 

·         Says “Dah” or “Dih” for everything, although he does say “Ah-da” for “All done” after a meal (although his typical signal that a meal is over is that he starts throwing every last bit of food from his tray onto the floor).

·         Is getting better with throwing balls (they don’t always end up behind him anymore!).  He loves to bounce balls back and forth with anyone. 

·         Eats most of his meals very well, although lunchtime is sometimes iffy.  Definitely likes his sweets!  Drinks cold milk out of a straw cup with breakfast, before nap and before bed, and drinks a lot of water in between.  He is a very thirsty boy. 

·         Spins around in a circle flapping his arms when he “dances.”

·         Wears mostly 18 month clothes, some 12 month, size 5 shoe

·         Is starting to point at things, like birds in the sky or pictures in books (yes, he’s finally looking at books, at least for 30 seconds at a time!)

·         Vigorously hakes his head “yes” and “no” very well, and says something akin to “yup” when he shakes his head yes. 

·         Is excellent going up and down the stairs by himself

·         Has 16 teeth!  8 up and 8 down! 

·         Will respond to verbal commands, like asking him to throw something in the trash or get his shoes (but of course, he usually then gets the item back out of the trash and gets me his sisters’ shoes!).

·         He’s starting to climb up onto chairs to reach items off the counter – I’m not ready for that yet!!

·         Adores any kind of a vehicle, especially if his daddy is driving it!

I love you, my baby Jimmy!

My mom sent me this Baby Blues cartoon in the mail the other day.  I laughed out loud when I read it – it definitely describes my life these days.  No matter how hard I work to ensure fairness, someone always has their nose out of joint, so to speak!