Before I forget…

There are a lot of things that go on in our daily lives that I want to remember. I often think to myself “Oh how funny/cute/embarrassing, I definitely want to remember that”, then I end up forgetting. And all I can remember was that something happened that I didn’t want to forget. I am going to start blogging them more. Mostly for my sake, to remember. But also to share, since often times they are cute little stories.

So last week all 3 kids woke up very early. 5:50am. It was still completely dark out. They all came parading into my room, ready to go for the day. Usually I can coax them back to bed after going potty, but that wasn’t happening that day. So by the time I was going to take a shower around 7:30, I was wanting some alone time. It is hard for me to not have any time to wake up by myself before the kids start making their demands of breakfast and getting dressed.

I have a bathroom off of my bedroom and I usually don’t lock the door. The kids like to go in and out. That day I locked the door, and Terrence realized it right away. Here’s what happened…

Terrence: *crying, shaking door handle* “I want to come in! I WANT TO COME IN!!”

Mommy: “Terrence, mama’s going to take a shower. Go watch Cars with brother and sissy”

Terrence: *more loud crying, then it stopped*

Mommy: continued brushing my teeth, etc. Then I hear loud slams from a door. It sounds like a heavier door, so I assumed it was the playroom. (We put in a 2-way mirror, so we had to switch to a solid door). The slamming stopped, and nobody was crying, so I ignored it.

Adisyn: “Yea Terrence, there’s the key. There’s the key, Terrence!”

Mommy: *thinking – what is she talking about? What key?*

Terrence: *tinkering around trying to unlock the door*

So my brilliant son realized his mommy was not going to open the door. But he was not going to be discouraged! For he knew there was a key to open the door! He also knew that I keep it on the top of the door jam of the playroom. And from previous experience, he knew that if he slammed the door enough times, the key would fall. And he would have his solution! He was not able to unlock it, as it is a bit tricky. But for all that effort, I opened the door for him to come it. He was smiling so big, and so proud of himself! He is such a funny little guy.

Terrence is also a little sneakster. About a month ago, him and I were in the garage sorting out some things for a garage sale. He had been going in and out of the house. The next thing I know he’s asking for help to open the door. At first I just tell him to keep trying, because he knows how to open it. After a while I go over, and realized he had locked us out! I go to the backyard, and find out the sliding door is also locked, and I knew the front door was locked, since I always lock it when we get home. I asked Terrence if he had locked it, and he gives me this guilty smile. Thankfully, our front windows were open, and so he climbed through, and went to the front door to open it.

And just a couple weeks ago, there was a fight between a “red car”. If you know my boys, you know how they covet their cars. Pretty frequently there is one that they both HAVE TO HAVE. So after a while of breaking up fights over this particular red car, I put it on the top of the fridge, where our toy time-out is. Terrence was in the kitchen crying, and after calmly telling him that he would need to find another toy, I just ignored him. I went about cleaning the house, and I realized he had stopped crying, and it was pretty quiet. Knowing that too quiet doesn’t always mean everyone is behaving, I went to investigate. I see Terrence, sitting up on the kitchen counter, playing with the red car! I was so surprised because I had put it on the outside part of the fridge, opposite from where the counter was. I look on top of the fridge and see a hammer that I had been using, that I put up there so the kids wouldn’t get it. I realized he had used the hammer to drag the car over to where he could reach it.

Every day I am amazed by these little things that are so “typical”, especially for curious little boys. It really shows how much they have grown, especially their curiosity of their world, and desire to explore and figure things out. They came from, first not even realizing there might be things out of their reach that they might want; to knowing something was there, but not realizing they could do something to get it; to now actually seeing an obstical, realizing they can do something about it, and achieving whatever it is they need to do to accomplish it.

Adisyn’s imagination is so funny! She is constantly coming up with random things. Well, first of all, she talks or sings NON-stop! So I can’t imagine all that is going through her mind. The other day she came up to me and informed me she didn’t have a tail. A while before that I was brushing her hair after a bath, and she was talking about what animals we might have one day.

Adisyn: “We might get a kitty like Sunny. Huh, mom?” (Sunflower is my parent’s cat)

Mommy: “Yea we might. And maybe someday we’ll have a dog, if you and brothers decide that you like them” (right now they are a little afraid, but I think it’s mostly due to the fact that they never spend time around dogs”

Adisyn: “Yea, and maybe a hippo too!”

Mommy: *laughing* “Um, well, probably not. But we can see them at the zoo”.

She is such an awesome little teacher for the boys. She really has sparked in them a desire to do more imaginative play. This summer I took out Adisyn’s toy changing table/bath thing for her dolls. Tyrell was wanting to play with her one day. I told him to go inside to get another baby from Adi’s closet. And he did! A year ago, he would have been upset because he wouldn’t realize my instructions would get him what he wanted, so I’d have to go get it for him while he cried and/or tried to take Adisyn’s doll. So he went and got his own, came back out, gave it a bath, wrapped it in a little dish towel, put it to bed on the changing table, and pat its back. Isn’t that so sweet? I’ve never taught him that. I’m sure he’s seen Adisyn do that with her babies, but it wasn’t something I specifically showed him to do.

Another favorite of all of theirs, is going to Walmart. (pretending) They come up and say they’re going to walmart, and I’ll tell them some grocery items, and they’ll go off and get them.

Tonight at bedtime I realized, yet again, how far my boys have come. Tyrell was in bed, asking for “a car”. And since I’m mom, I know they think I should magically know which one they’re wanting. I had picked up the house already tonight, and I had put all the cars away, so I went and got the container from the playroom. Apparently the car he was looking for wasn’t in there. After about 5 minutes or so, I was getting frustrated. Finally he asked for a “red car” and I knew the only red car I could think of, wasn’t in the house since I had just cleaned up everything. I assumed it had gone to Grammie’s house with him that morning. I explained it was at Grammie’s and once again offered the other cars that were there. I told him those were the only cars I had, and he needed to pick one or I’d just take them out, since he needed to go to bed. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he picked one up, and I praised him for being a good sport about finding another one. And then he went to bed, no crying!

For quite a while now, both boys like to go to bed with something. Whether it’s a car, or a book, stuffed animal/baby, some sort of toy…. It doesn’t matter what, it’s just whatever they are particularly attached to at the time. Many, many times we couldn’t figure out, or couldn’t find exactly what it was they wanted. Most often I would get frustrated, because they wouldn’t take anything else, and I couldn’t figure out what it was to calm them down. I would leave them to cry, and finally go to sleep. I always felt so bad when they’d cry themselves to sleep, but I just didn’t know what else to do. Now that they are able to communicate what it is they want, things are so much better! Almost always they are able to tell me what they want. But there are still occasions where I can’t find it, or it’s not at our house, like tonight. Usually I can persuade them to take something else, but it’s after a lot of frustration on my part, and crying from them. Tyrell cried briefly tonight, probably less than 15 seconds, but other than that, we were able to resolve it very calmly. Both boys went to bed with no crying, and happy.

I am so thankful for every step of progress my boys are making. All the work me and the wonderful team of volunteers have put in, is truly paying off. I also am so incredibly thankful for my wonderful family and friends. You guys have been a huge support to me, and I couldn’t be as sane as I am without you.   I know God is giving us the strength to keep moving on, and I am so grateful.

Showing our Duck spirit for the game today!

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