Wednesday Wanderings...

Every parent is faced with the kind of questions that make us uncomfortable to answer. Not so much BAD uncomfortable, but “what the heck do I say now” uncomfortable. Caleb asks “why?” about forty-nine times an hour, and sometimes those answers are a little sketchy for me. Some of them – usually regarding nursing Gavi – are glossed over lest I hear my words repeated in pleasant company. But yesterday came the first one that REALLY got me.

“Where’s God?” Caleb asked on the way to VBS. (Since he’s not really attending, just accompanying me to nursery duty, I’m not really sure where the concept came from.)

My brain went a tiny bit fuzzy. I was thinking so many things at once. “How can you simplistically present the idea of omnipresence? Do I dumb down my answer since my child is two? Or does that offend the Almighty Creator of the universe? If I answer wrong, could I derail my son’s entire spiritual future? GO FIND YOUR MOTHER, KID!”

So I said a quick prayer, then responded, “God is everywhere, sweetie.”

After a brief pause: “Okay.”

No other comments, questions, ANYTHING. I at least expected to hear “why?” So I mentally wiped my brow, and considered the answer a success.

I told Jonathan about it at dinner last night. So in return, he asked Caleb where God was. He thought for a minute, then said, “God’s at King Soopers.”

Technically correct, right?! Anyway, we about bust a gut laughing. I love how he’s learning. His vocabulary and comprehension are just growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Also, the bed seems to be an incredible success! He doesn’t sleep a whole lot yet, but he’s got the concept that he needs to stay in bed, whether it’s for his hour of quiet time or at night time. I put a couple of books by his bed, and he’s got a few stuffed animals. The biggest trouble has been him keeping Mr. Gavi up by shouting and singing when he should be sleeping. But after hearing some of the horror stories of my friends’ children’s experience, I was a little nervous. Plus, his first night was a little rocky.

Our bathroom is only half done, but we have to wait until my Papa comes back from Germany to finish it. The stupid shower added two full days, and unfortunately, Jonathan and I weren’t as much help as he probably would have liked. Grr. But even unfinished, it’s about sixty times more beautiful than it was! And it seems SO much bigger! I can’t wait to get the shower done!

Gavi is doing really well, too! He’s gaining a LOT of weight! I suspect that when we go back next week for his weight checkup, he’ll have gained about three pounds. It’s sad to see his little jowls come back, but I hate to think of him being undernourished just so his face is pretty!

His big thing for interaction now is shaking his head. It’s the first way we’ve really seen him communicate. (His "lalalas" aren't contingent on our responses.) He’s so sweet! Jonathan actually feared that he had an inner ear infection for a while because he shakes his head so much. But as soon as anyone shakes their head back at him, he’s done! Then he’ll watch them until they nod, then shakes his head again. He’s giggling like a teeny madman, too. He’s such a sweetheart, I can’t hardly stand it. He’s more of a cuddler than Caleb ever was. It’s fun to just smoosh him. He and I get up earlier than the rest of the family, so I get a lot of time just snuggling him. Plus, he’s still waking up occasionally at night, and while he’s adjusting to the new bed, I’ll get up with him.

And Jonny will probably hate having this in print, but in case Gavi ever goes back and reads this, it’s important to have on the record: Jonathan loves to sit and just kiss Gavi. He pulls him back when Gavi starts slipping him the tongue, but they’ll just sit and smile at each other and kiss forever. It’s too precious.

June Delights

Ohmigoodness, I feel like I brag on my kiddos so much that it’s all I do! Then I look at my blog, and it’s been five hundred years since my last post. My mom told me yesterday that I blog more than anyone she knows. But I’m the only person I know who doesn’t scrapbook or keep baby books, so with that perspective, get ready for my latest novel…

Gavi has the biggest achievements these days:

~ open mouth kisses
~ pulling himself up on people and furniture
~ walking around said people and furniture
~ sings his “lalala’s” five hours a day
~ shaking his head no in response to someone else nodding or shaking their heads

There have been other things I’ve forgotten – like how he started reaching out for whoever he wanted to pick him up. Or crawling like a tiny wind up toy. Or pushing his arms through his shirt rather than being a potato with arms. Or how he undermines my authority by giggling his little head off even though I’m yelling at his brother not to squish him. He’s playing with cars and trucks already, too! And he’s got three more teeth pushing their way through. I hope they come soon because he’s a cranky little cuss!

Caleb’s biggest news of the day is… drum roll please… HE HAS A BIG BOY BED! Oh, is it beautiful. My Dad built it for my sister or my gram a few years back, and both of them have moved on to bigger and better beds. So they donated it to their grandson! It has a headboard that perfectly matches both the changing table AND the crib in their room and a better mattress than I’ve ever owned. Plus, Grandma went shopping for sheets and blankets and everything to entice him into it.

NOT that he needed to be enticed! I’ve been prepping him for this day for the past couple of months, so as soon as Grandpa showed up yesterday, he demanded, “Where my big boy bed?”

Anyway, we got pictures of him in it, and he kept requesting naps yesterday, so I think it was a success. During his actual nap, we were ripping out the bathroom, so he didn’t sleep for long. He’s in and out of that thing so quickly it’s terrifying. So when we put him to bed last night, I anticipated no problems.

However, because the bed’s inaugural night was one in which we had been doing hard physical labor – I ripped down two walls of drywall, y’all! – and I had been forced to take an antihistamine at three thirty in the afternoon, Jonathan and I were barely able to stay conscious to get the boys into bed. A mistake I would warn other parents with new big kid beds not to make.

At twelve thirty this morning, Gavi did his usual screaming bit, which I usually ignore. But since HE was in his new bed, too – a big boy bed in its own right! – I figured I’d better go reassure him. But I tripped over Caleb sleeping on the floor. Why was Caleb on the floor when he was so excited about his new bed?

Because his bed was filled with EVERY BOOK HE OWNS. And most of the toys, too. If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I would have gone and got the camera then and there. As it was, I just threw all his books in his laundry basket and helped him back into bed without a lecture. And Gavi was just doing his usual teething cranky crying, so I just cuddled him and popped him back in bed.

In other news, have I mentioned how much Gavi LOVES the pool?! We’ve only been three times, but every time he just giggles and coos. And Caleb loves it much more than last year. I was a little nervous about that. Unfortunately, since I’m the only person with the two of them, I have to hold both of them the majority of the time. Caleb has a little life jacket that keeps him more buoyant, and he’s able to sit on the stairs for part of the time so I can swoosh Gavi around a little. It’s precious.

On Tuesday, I realized that since I could sit on the bottom and Caleb’s taller than I am sitting, he might be able to stand up rather than holding on to me the whole time. So I said, “Let’s see if you can touch the bottom. Stand up, duckie. Can you touch the bottom?”

He looked at me like I was insane, then reached around and grabbed his own hind end. MAN, I love that kid!

Yesterday at lunch, Caleb finished before the rest of us. He asked, politely, “Milk please, Mommy?” I said, “I’ll get you some milk as soon as I’m done eating.” He gazed around the table, checking out everyone’s plates, then said, “Grandpa, you done eating?” Everybody chuckled at his persistence. Grandpa said, “Yeah, buddy, but I don’t know where your milk is.”

“Grandpa, it’s in the fridgerator!” he exclaimed. We erupted with laughter. The munchie has an answer for everything!

There are a thousand other stories I could tell about the adorableness that is each of my boys, but since I’m outta time – hafta get back to that bathroom, dontcha know?! – I better leave it with this: If I could freeze these boys at this age, I wouldn’t. If it was my choice to keep them here, I would have to pass. But I am enjoying 98% of it more than I could have ever dreamed. I just know that something even MORE fantastic is on the way!