Three little loves

Every now and then I like to give a little update on the kiddos and let you know what is new with them. I'll start with Gray. Matt and I were talking about him not "getting" the treasure hunt and he asked me if I thought there was a difference between his understanding and Joshua's because of age or that Joshua's more intuitive. I said definitely not age because Joshua understood what we were doing when we started this tradition 2 years ago. Gray is just definitely lacking in the common sense department! He just doesn't make a lot of connections about things that I would have never had to explain to Joshua. Here's a recent example: Yesterday, someone from the gym gave Matt a big bag of play doh and I was consolidating some of the colors so we could get rid of a bunch of the containers. Julia was playing with the containers and lids and there were all over the floor and eventually I had the boys clean them up. I told them to go put them in the red recycle box in the laundry room and they seemed to be doing that. Gray was supposed to get the containers and Joshua the tops, thought at one point Gray shouted that Joshua missed a green lid. Hours later, I went in the laundry room to find the play doh lids in the red recycle box and in the laundry basket on top of the dryer were the containers, with the tell-tale green lid mixed in:) Did Gray notice that "his" basket was neither red nor a recycle bin? I don't know. Did he think, "Isn't it strange that Mommy wants to wash these plastic containers?" I don't know. Did he see that Joshua was putting his stuff in a different basket? I don't know. But this is very typical Gray these days. I was thinking this morning that I don't know where he gets it from. Matt and I both come from smart families and I think I always assumed my kids would be smart. (And I think Gray is too, but doesn't show it as well!) Then I remembered a little nickname I was given at some point in my younger years. My dad called me L.I.S., which stood for Lost In Space. Ding, ding, ding. I think we have a source for Gray's fogginess! Oh well. I turned out okay anyway, right?

On to Julia. Lately, life for Julia has been a lot about learning to talk. She is starting to try to say so many things, most of which are hard to understand without context and I'm finding that although words in theory make communication easier, some things are getting more complicated. She LOVES to say 'no' now, which sometimes means yes. Her favorite things all sound alike so I often have no idea what she's asking for. If she says, "mi" or "ni" or "mi- mi" or "ni ni" (sort of a short i sound on all of these, sort of not) it could mean any of the following:
milk
night night
Mama
more
banana
or no.

We are down to one feeding, so probably within the week she'll be weaned. It was hard at first, when we were going down from 6 feedings, but at the end, it's been going really well and she'll now go down for naps or bed without even seeming to expect me to nurse her. She loves being outside! The other day I let her roam around in the fence and she was fascinated by everything. Sometimes I don't want to take her out because I feel like there's nothing for her to do, but I forget how interesting it is for babies to just be out there, toys or not. When it was just me and Joshua and he was Julia's age, I used to take him to the parks in Dupont all the time, but so much of Julia's experience is very different from his and I forget how things used to be.

Now Joshua. Things have been a little bit of a struggle with him lately. As a parent, I think you find that certain issues come up in waves. Or maybe you just unintentionally focus on some things at certain times and overlook them in others. Anyway, what has come to light recently is Joshua's need to tell everyone what to do and have his way no matter what it takes. If someone refuses his way, he either goes into grumpy mode and won't play with him or he just does his best to make it happen anyway, either through persuasion or force! He's always been this way, but lately it seems more obvious than ever. It is absolutely painful for him to go with anyone else's ideas, share his stuff, etc. Gray often goes along with him, so some days I don't notice it, but sometimes Gray has had enough and those are the days I'm pulling my hair out! I talk to him about how being the first born child makes him more likely to have those leadership qualities and not want to be a follower and that those things can be great in the right situation, but he can't always have the "me first" and "my way" mentality. Maybe something is slowly sinking in, but it's not evident yet. And I know it's tough for him. He's fighting a big part of his nature and not winning very often so he's getting lots of correction. Some days I feel like I'm grasping at straws to try to find something good to praise him about just to counteract all the fussing! Anyway, I hate to say it, but when I think of what has characterized Joshua lately, that's all I've got! One on one, though, he is great. He is fun to talk to and play with. He is helpful and loving. But add a peer in the mix and he's a different child. Any words of advice are welcome.