My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Well, our Labor Day boating excursion turned out a little wetter than we expected.  But it was still a lot of fun (at least it was for me behind the windshield – I wasn’t the one getting pelted with rain at 30 mph on a tube)!  We had a few hours before the rain started to do some swimming and tubing.  We even got the boys out for a ride together.  Jimmy has been very fearful this summer of going on the tube, and we were relieved that he finally agreed to go for a ride with Jim and our friend Lauri.  And Danny tubed like he had been doing it his whole life!

Don’t the girls look thrilled to be boating in the rain? 

Actually, the kids had a wonderful time with all our friends on the boat.  Not even a rainstorm can dampen these little social butterflies’ wings!

Where did my baby go?  He’s a young man with blonde peach fuzz, a winning smile, and cheeks so deliciously squishy I can get lost in them.  He steals my heart every time he grins, which is often.  He has an infectious belly laugh, deep brown eyes that take in everything his siblings are doing (for better and for worse), and a gait that grows increasingly steady as he toddles around with his belly leading the way.  He loves to throw a ball, loves to play with trucks, loves to eat, loves to cuddle, loves to wave and clap, loves to fall asleep in his own bed, loves to have someone sing to him, loves to roll around on fluffy carpet, loves to put toys into and out of buckets, and loves to be outside.  He doesn’t like books yet, he doesn’t like to be put down when he’s feeling cuddly or clingy, doesn’t like to get dressed, doesn’t like to be left alone, and doesn’t like dessert to end (who does?).  He has 8 going on 11 teeth (he’s currently cutting three molars, poor kid!).  He drinks formula from a bottle three times a day after deciding he was done nursing about a month ago.  He takes a morning nap lasting around 1-2 hours and an afternoon nap lasting 1.5-2 hours and sleeps all night (usually).  His wake-up time is still a bit erratic, but usually falls between 6:30 and 7:30. We haven’t yet figured out whether he’s going to be a crazy, free-wheeling boy like his brother, or whether he’ll be more laid-back and easy-going.  He shows signs of both, so we’ll see this time next year what kind of a boy we have on our hands.  We’re so incredibly grateful for him and the joy he daily brings into our lives! 

So now that the girls are in school, it’s just the boys and me at home every day.  I have to say that I’m still really missing the high-pitched girly voices echoing all over the house, but I’m trying to focus on the positives of having this one-on-two time with my boys.  Today, I took the boys out for a stroll on the road near our house, and it was positively relaxing to only have to worry about one squirrely kid running into traffic, as opposed to three!

Jimmy’s doing fine without his sisters so far.  He does follow me around the house, repeatedly asking “Mommy pway wif me (play with me)?” and he’s beyond excited when we go to the bus stop to pick up his sisters..  But Danny still takes a morning nap, so that means I have an hour or so every morning where I can focus on Jimmy.  It’s a pretty novel concept to only have one child nearby – in fact, it’s never before happened to me on a regular basis!    So Jimmy and I are living it up, reading lots of books without getting distracted (well, as non-distracted as possible with a squirmy 2 year old), and doing chores together (the kid LOVES to wield a squirt bottle).  We’ve also made sure to get outside and enjoy the lovely end-of-summer weather we’ve been having.  What better way to celebrate the last few weeks of warmth than by getting coated in ooey-gooey mud?!