A few weeks ago Halifax, like most of Eastern Canada, was given a bit of a summer preview! Temps reached a HOT 25-30 degrees. The boys loved it! We were at the park every day, and they were thrilled to wear their sandals! Then three days later, it rained, there were some light flurries of wet snow, and now it seems like a distant memory. Bonus: all their summer clothes are unpacked, washed and ready to go :)
Henry has started his toilet training! Yay! My goal is to enjoy at least one month of having only one child in diapers before Baby #4 arrives. Success rate so far is about 60/40. Sixty percent of the time he'll use the facilities, as long as you remind him constantly and promise some sort of a treat...and the other forty? Well, if he's watching tv or colouring, or playing outside...Let's just say that cleaning poop out of cloth training pants is &#$^% gross. I thought maybe having him go commando yesterday at home would prevent a poop-plosion, but it didn't. Mummy may have dropped the odd f-bomb. Or maybe not, depending on who's reading this.
Angus has resumed swimming lessons as of this morning. This is attempt #2 of Salamander (Red Cross). There are 2 other boys in the class (who also did not pass, and were not in the previous session with us). I spoke to both the other Mums, and they had also said that they didn't know anyone who passed the level first time around. Just to be clear (although, I've spoken to a lot of you about it already), I am 300% cool with not passing a swimming level if certain tasks have not/cannot be completed. We'll just keep on trucking until he can do his front float, back float, rocket ship, and swimming underwater (all unassisted and w/o pfd, obv.). Angus has his school orientation mid-April...should be fun considering he tells me every day - unprompted - that he does NOT want to go to school. He's a headstrong little dude. If it's not his idea initially, he's not interested. Case-in-point: he only became fully potty-trained at 4.25 years. He knew the drill and what was going on, but just had no interest in participating. I'm sure that stubborn streak will serve him well. After all, Ryan and I didn't turn out too badly, right??
Oliver is our happy little climber. He climbs whatever he can, whenever he can. He has started to climb the outside of the iron bars on our stairs, climbs on the kitchen table, up the stove...all without any serious injury which is quite impressive. He says Mama, Dada, baba (bottle), baaaa (bath), and bawwwww (ball). If you put your face right up to his and say, "Do you have any kisses?", you will be the lucky recipient of an open-mouthed, slobbery kiss!
Staying at home, I have to say has taken crazy commitment. I love it, but there are days where I'm reduced to tears (could be the hormones, could be that the boys are being their insane little selves), but I love it so much. I'll finish off this entry with a few excerpts from Deborah Lowther's blog entry posted March 30...it really resonates, and reminds me that the challenging days will also be cherished someday.
"Occasionally I could be found in a corner in tears, pretty sure I couldn’t do it one more day. Convinced that my girls would be better off having fun with other kids in a child care center then watch me unsuccessfully deal with the over whelming responsibility of catering to their needs each day. I have no idea how I made it through those first 2 years of being a mom to 3 small children. I leaned on friends and consoled myself that tomorrow would be better. Hopefully. Staying at home was not exactly as I had envisioned it, but it was still where I wanted to be.
I took 3 kids to all my doctors appointments, all their doctor appointment, all our dentist appointments, all kids activities, groceries, school drop offs, pick ups, every activity for one kid I had two more in tow; everywhere I needed to go, 3 kids had to come with me. I taught my children that we were a team and we travelled as a team and listening to mom was rule #1. I taught them (eventually) how to sit (kinda) still at the doctors, hold on to the stroller in parking lots and be patient at the grocery store. I have changed more than one diaper on my lap, I can make lunch with a baby in one arm, a toddler around my leg and a 3 year old crying because Barney is not magically appearing on TV. I have pulled the car over to feed kids, I have almost forgotten to pick up kids, and have been home for every second of the joy and struggles with kids. It wasn’t always pretty, but it did get easier as we all grew up together! I even had time to start working from home again, carving out a little time for mom with kids still running around the house!
My kids may have seen me at my worst, but I have seen them at their best. They have enjoyed more free time at home, more special days with mom, and I was there for all their naptime stories and potty training attempts. I had time to teach all 3 of my girls how to swim, how to skate, how to ski, how to bake, how to read, and how to put on lip gloss. Being home allowed me those opportunities and as the first day of Grade 1 approached for my last “baby”, this past September I was so sad to see them all go off in school full time . . .but also so happy that I was able to enjoy time with them at home all these years. When you choose to stay home . . . you choose a lot more hours of kids tears, of whining, of arguing, of cleaning, of constant companions for every errand and maybe a few more hours of smiles, of laughs, of memories, and snuggles..."
So, in REAL closing, something not so beautiful, but VERY VERY helpful: Angus is going through another kind of "special" phase. If he asks you to smell his finger, don't. DO, however, take him to the washroom and make sure he washes his hands. Then make him wash them again. That is all. Have a great week. xx
