Roxanne will start an art project and all the other kids will join in. They usually leave a giant mess, but there is something so great about seeing her inspire the other kids to create. She's a child after my own heart. Plus, she's hilarious. She has one of those senses of humor that you just know will develop fantastically as she gets older. She's also what I like to call a "Smart Alec" to her face and a "Smart Ass" in my head. There is a lot less humor and creativity without her here.
Gabriel is the chatterbox, and he invents games for the kids to play all the time. Is there a giant fort in one of the bedrooms with all the kids chattering away inside? Gabriel is the source of the idea and the conversation. There is a lot less talking and building with him gone. Yes, we are bored without our "Fun Engineers".
So now you have the set up for our little adventure. Isabella and Elijah have been forced to entertain themselves which doesn't always turn out as well as Isabella would hope. Let me elaborate.
Last night Elijah had just gotten done "doing his business" in the bathroom. The door was open, and he was washing his hands (such a good boy). Isabella chose this time to sneak up behind him and yell, "BOO!"
"AAAAAA! Ithabella, you thcarwed me!"
Isabella erupted into fits laughter and so did I. I thought it was hilarious, Isabella thought it was hilarious, and Elijah thought it was a crap joke. He slammed the bathroom door and locked it. I didn't notice he had locked it for about 5 minutes. Oops!
When James and I finally got him to open the door he had broken my deodorant to pieces and rubbed shampoo into his dry hair. Apparently, Elijah has finally discovered the fun of making messes in the bathroom, which is something all my other kids discovered when they were three. He picks four. Just when I thought I might escape this particular milestone with him he goes and throws me a curve ball.
I really had no choice but to give him a bath after that. Since he loves taking a bath I guess I ended up rewarding him for making a mess. Oh well, it really was my fault for not noticing he hadn't come out of the bathroom.
I had fun giving him a bath. He really is the sweetest little boy ever, though I still haven't broken him of the you-hurt-my-feelings-so-now-I'm-going-to-scream thing. He sat in there and played and had a good ol' time.
When it came time to rinse his hair he wouldn't look up at the ceiling so the water wouldn't pour into his eyes. I told him I would have to lay him back. For some reason he doesn't trust that I won't let his head fall into the water. So he finally let me rinse his hair while he looked up at the ceiling. It's important that you know this part, because he won't trust me with things like rinsing his hair, but takes my word on most everything else except at mealtimes.
A few minutes later James walked in as the water was draining out of the tub and "reminded" me to make sure he stayed away from the drain (Because of the germs [Don't ask]). I replied to Elijah quite sarcastically, "Yeah be careful Eli the drain will suck you down." Elijah immediately moved away from the drain to the far side of the tub, and I had to assure him that he really wouldn't go down the drain. I'm glad he takes my word on things, but it reminded me that I have to be careful about sarcasm around him.
Today he is four. I hope for his 5th year of life that he:
1. Learns to read
2. Stops screaming every time his feelings get hurt
3. Has lots of fun
4. Loses a few of his speech impediments
5. Retains his sweetness of temper and loving nature
four
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infant
7 comments:
What wonderful children, they do you proud. I expect as they get older they will bring you much happiness and somtimes tears I thinks it goes with being a mother, especially when they want to fly the nest, Enjoy them while you can for the years pass so quickly. My three are now 45 yrs 42 yrs and 38 yet ut dosen't seem that long ago I was taking them to school.
Take care,
Yvonne,
What a sweet boy; Enjoy, these moments and the precious memories they hold! All children have
their unique quirks; Funny what said, about the tub. I never said, that, but there is a cartoon,
I think Tom n' Jerry, were one of them goes down the drain...maybe Tweetie n' Sylvester. This
bothered my son...funny what they remember and retain! Enjoy this milestone and all the adventure that "4" will bring~
Gosh, what fun. It seems so long ago for me when my kids were that age. Now 1 grandchild here and another on the way I have new adventures to look forward to. Have fun while you can.
Thank you for checking out Dan Jackson's blog and leaving a supportive comment for his sister. She's a couple of years younger than you and I certainly admire her for the support she's given to her brother. I hope you will continue to look in on his blog now and then and leave comments now and then. All comments go thru his sister before they get to him so I sure you can direct some directly to her if you wanted to. I think she would appreciate it.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Marjorie--he sounds a lot like Sam--he was inclined to tantrums when he was 'done' being away from home and used to have melt downs, but MOSTLY was super sweet--had that speech impediment--the "r" problem lingered into young 5s, but I think the rest were gone by 4 1/2.
Elijah is sure a cutie.
@ Yvonne- Time does fly. I'm trying to enjoy them while they're little.
@ Ellie- I watched Mr. Rogers when I was a kid and he always told the story about how he was afraid he would go down the drain as a kid. I never understood it. I think it may be a boy thing.
@ Lee- My mom says grandkids are more fun than kids, because you get to enjoy them without all the headaches of parenting.
I understand what it is like to want to help a brother that has pretty much messed up his life royally. It is great what his sister is doing, and great that he is trying so hard from behind bars.
@ Tami- Most of my kids have had SOME sort of speech impediment, but Isabella still has a lisp and I am at a loss to figure out how to help her get rid of it. Elijah has several impediments. I do hope most of them are gone by age 6. At 4 though it still sounds SO cute.
I'll tell Elijah you said he's cute. He'll be thrilled!
Hi Marjorie, sounds like a handful to me. Ahh, Elijah is a cutie :)
Beautiful article. I am so looking forward to seeing them all!
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