We started Potty Training 201 today. We figure we completed the 101 class with kid 1, and are now at the beginning of class 2 with kid 2. Paugie is being the model student and has so far been willing to try very hard to listen to his body and use the potty accordingly. He, unlike his eldest brother, would rather not have the attention, so we're finding that minimal praise is preferred... he wants to succeed with as little adulation as possible. Such a sweet boy this is.
Learning to stand comes with it's drawbacks, our Jevy has discovered. Most often when we hear some desperate wailing coming from our youngest, we will find him standing up, clinging pathetically to something, unable or terrified to let himself sit down and move along on his own. This morning I found him white knuckled, gripping two of the support rungs on his crib, as if the crib was holding him captive. When I walked in and laid him down he sighed with relief, put his thumb in his mouth and closed his eyes to sleep. Wrestling with a crib is exhausting! We are slowly training him how to sit down without "crashing" down and reiterating his terror.
Madigan has started Awanas, a Bible club that meets once a week. He loves it! After the first evening, however, he informed me: "there weren't any awanas." I informed him that the club is called Awanas. After re-stating our points to one another a few more times, he emphatically said, "No, mommy, there isn't one." Finally, I realized his confusion... earlier that day, we had been to the zoo and seen Iguanas. And you know what... he was right. There weren't any iguanas at Awanas.
In these past several months, I have felt the loneliness that I think often must accompany this stage of life. The sometimes necessary isolation of having small ones (even if they are energetic and robust they still need naps, a lot of one-on-one time, almost-constant clean up and supervision, etc.). My life schedule is intrinsically less flexible and my ability to "go out and do other things" less probable. I definitely savor the weekends, when Daddy often gives me some much-needed time with my horse, or coffee-date with a friend. My boys' devotion to snuggling is a constant ray of sunshine on those less-than-sunny days in my heart. Caring for them and teaching them each day is the delight of my life, but every season, no matter how spectacular, is sure to have it's challenges.
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