Both Feet

When you have more than one child the innate need to compare them is ever-present. You can pretend you don't. But. You do. And anyone who says they don't is lying. It's not always out loud and it's not always in a negative way (You guys are both so TALL!) but it's nearly constant. Who walks first. Who talks first. Who swears first (OK, maybe that's just us...). Sometimes they're so much alike it's a bit frightening. I can remember when we first put the boys in a bedroom together they would sleep in the exact.same.position. For months.

It's important not to always give the kids the same compliment at the exact same time because it takes away from both. And you always have to be sincere. For example, Little One is a very brave (read: dangerous) little girl. Baby Girl is not as brave (read: timid) but she has other qualities. However, she's not a big fan of her baby sister showing her up in any way.

Recently, Little One has gotten to where she wants to get out of the Space Shuttle by herself, thankyouverymuch. And she doesn't just climb down. OH NO! She has to jump! I made a fuss the first time she did it about what a big kid she was and how brave she was without really thinking about the fact that Baby Girl still needs to either slide out on her toosh or hold hands to get out.

The girls and I went to the mall on Friday to pick up jammies for Mr. MOTH (read why HERE). We were about to get out when I heard some deep breathing and then saw 2 size 11 sparkle sneakers land on the ground next to me with a loud, "Yes!". "Mommy!! I did it like sister! I just took a deep breath and then I was very brave!!"

Take a deep breath and jump with both feet. Always.

Learning Is A Lesson

Baby Girl is going to turn 4 years old on Super Bowl Sunday. Our team is going to win their 7th Super Bowl that day so it's going to be a big day in our house.

But this morning, as I was "helping" her get dressed I realized just how much she has learned since last year...and how much she learns every.single.day. She was dressing herself today - underwear on sideways, pants on backwards, removed, on backwards again, removed, on correctly and so on. It was a test of both her patience and mine. Turns out, she gets her patience from me because it took all that I had not to just do it for her. She does it a little faster and a little better every time. She has learned to use the potty by herself (including washing her hands). She can write her own name (and some other words). She has learned how to play Match and Go Fish.

She makes learning look easy. Yes, she's smart (my mother-in-law would say she takes after her father) but making your body parts do what they're supposed to when asked (like pushing the button through the hole) is hard to "learn". It's all about practice, patience, and positive reinforcement. But she tries. And that inspires me to try - with practice, patience, and positive reinforcement. I am still running (I'm at about exactly 2.37 miles per run) and I'm learning to have patience with myself. It helps that Baby Girl occasionally stands in front of the treadmill and mimics running. Cracks me up but also reminds me that I am learning to be a positive influence on her.

And my positive reinforcement is a new pair of running shoes when the weather turns and I can run outside. Hers is new markers. :)

House of Evil

For Christmas my sister bought Baby Girl a cardboard house that you can build and then color. It's probably more than 4 feet high and takes up quite a bit of space but she has been BEGGING Mr. MOTH to assemble it. I convinced her we needed new markers for it and that worked until she went grocery shopping with me and had her own list...which included new markers.

Mr. MOTH put the thing together Saturday morning with a warning that it was not sturdy enough for two rowdy boys to play in. They were warned - REPEATEDLY - not to go in or around it lest they damage it. They were also told not to color it because, well, it wasn't theirs and part of the fun of this gift was making it hers. Baby Girl wrote her name over the door and colored as high as she could reach but she's not quite big enough to reach the roof. She must have asked her brothers for some help and they were more than happy to oblige. This occured while I was putting Little One down for a nap. I saw them with markers in hand when I came back downstairs and they left it alone.

Sunday morning I saw what they had done. They lost every priviledge they had for the entire day - television, video games, you name it. They had written the word "EVIL" all over it!! I asked why but then realized I just don't want to know...

Lesson learned: Be more specific - technically, "writing" and "coloring" are not the same thing.

If you look carefully, you can see "NLIV" over the window. Youngest Boys is still learning to spell...