Three

Little man, you are one quarter of the way through your first year.  What's new, my little three monther?

You are our strapping young man.  I'm guessing you weigh around 14 pounds now.  You have completely outgrown the newborn clothing and are about to outgrow your 0-3 month things.  You wear size 2 diapers that hug the adorable rolls on your legs.  You even have the cutest little double chin.  If this trend continues, you will be the same size as your youngest sister by the time you're a year old.

You have such a sweet natured personality.  You love to talk to people.  The first time I dropped you off in the nursery at church, you conned the sweet ladies into holding you and playing with you when you should have been taking a nap.  You are such a little flirt.  My absolute favorite thing is when you see me and your eyes light up while your mouth curls into this adorable little half smile.  It is precious!  You tend to be quite a content little man.  Usually, you only fuss for one of three reasons: hunger, fatigue, or boredom.  The toughest time of the day unfortunately coincides with dinner time.  You seem to have a thing about me being able to sit down and enjoy a meal.  I'm going to savor our time together, though.  Soon enough, you'll be sitting at the table eating along with us.

You are a strong little guy.  You have excellent head control which is necessary since you love to flirt with the ladies.  You are constantly pushing and flexing your legs and abs.  I fear this means you will want to crawl and walk before mama is ready.

You still enjoy hanging out in the sling.  One of the reasons I enjoy baby-wearing so much is that you are incredibly content while snuggled up in there.  I took you grocery shopping last night, and you were happy to people-watch while we strolled around the store.  Maybe you like it so much because you get so much attention.  People just fawn over you while I carry you around.

I suppose that is what has developed over these past few weeks.  Please enjoy this video.  It is one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

Oh, how I love this sweet little man!

Some Days

Some days, parenting is really hard.  You know those days where you put your two year old on the potty and wait and wait and wait for her to use it.  You finally let her up after an unsuccessful half hour, and within five minutes, that same two year old tee tees all over the floor.  sigh

But, then you have days like today where you realize how blessed you truly are.  See, we were out late last night watching fireworks at our local park.  The girls didn't get into bed until close to midnight.  Stinky, tired, yet overstimulated girls out way past their bedtime.  You can imagine the fun we had putting on pajamas.  You know how as an adult, if you go to bed late, you sleep in?  That doesn't apply to my little ladies.  They were both up at the usual hour ready to be fed, clothed and entertained.  Thankfully, the little gentleman slept in.  I managed to occupy them all morning, kept them entertained and fed, and even got them bathed.  I'm sure this seems like no big deal to most people.  Truly, on a normal day, this would be cake.  But, for those of you who may not know me in real life, I'm pretty sure I'm the inspiration for that mattress commercial with the grumpy mama bear.  'Nuff said!

Anywho, the little ladies were almost finished eating lunch when the little gentleman realized that he had failed to interrupt this meal.  (My babies have all had a knack for knowing the exact moment when you sit down to eat.  That is the exact moment that they realize they are starving. STARVING!)  So, I told my little ladies to finish eating, put away their plates, and go to rest time. I was off to nurse little man in the comfort of my own bed. I had no doubt that they would obey, but what I didn't know would happen absolutely made my heart burst.

See, we have a video baby monitor in the girls room.  It gives me great peace of mind having it because it is necessary to check in on baby ninja while she plays in her room.  (After all, she earned that moniker for a reason!)  After they finished eating, Cora and Carys both traipsed into their room where I can hear Cora talking on the monitor.  She takes baby ninja, puts her in the bed and reminds her "Okay Carys, it's rest time!"  She heads over to the closet and turns on the fan.  Before she leaves, she calls out, "Have a good rest time!"  Very gently, she closes the door and headed to the guest room for her rest time.  And, then, my heart melted into a big gooey puddle.

She just amazes me, y'all.  I feel like we walk a fine line with her.  I want her to care enough for her siblings to watch out for them.  But, at the same time, I don't want her to feel as though we expect her to parent her siblings.  For the sake of her sibling relationship, I don't want her to be a bossy pants.  But, I also don't want her to feel like she can't step in and be a leader when the situation calls for it.  Regardless, I'm going to count this as a small success and file this away in my mind for those parenting days that are less like today and more like the first scenario mentioned above.

I can't help but think of Hebrews 12:11.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Normally, I consider this verse in the context of how the Holy Spirit shapes and trains me, yet how apropos it is to this parenting journey as well.  Parents work so hard to shape their children, and we don't always get to see the fruits of that labor on a day to day basis.  But, then, you get that tiny glimpse of how you are training them to become the creature that God created them to be, and it makes cleaning up endless puddles of tee tee worth it.

I am so blessed!