Status Update on the Kids

This is my post where I take moment to pause and capture life as we know it right now.

Jackson will turn two in sixteen days. He is a lot more fun lately. I think one major factor in that is his growing ability to communicate. Yes, he still has screaming fits when he doesn't get what he wants or when he can't express it to me, but he's learning to communicate so well. He talks in full sentences. After dinner he told Dan, "I wan go Costco." We told him we were going to Target instead. He said, "I wan Mommy go too" and stalked me until I got my shoes on. And just now, he looked out the window and said, "It dark outside." He is lots more fun too because he likes to be silly. He does this little dance of shaking his body side to side. Maybe one day I'll be able to catch it on video. Jackson also LOVES shoes right now. He often walks over to the shoe rack by the back door and steals someone's shoes to wear through the house. He especially loves wearing Katie's shoes. I caught him in her boots the other day.

It also helps that Jackson is sleeping much better these days. He still has night time wakings a few times each week, but they are usually short-lived. He's taking gloriously long naps from about 1:00 until 3:30 or 4:00 each day. Hallelujah! The only worry I have is that we plan to get rid of the pacifier in a few weeks. I'm afraid it's going to throw our little piece of heaven into a tizzy. Anyone have good pacifier removal tips? Jackson also loves to help around the house. He loves to help me take the dirty clothes to the laundry room and put them in the washer. He loves it so much that we usually have a tantrum when I try to get him to leave the laundry room. Jackson also likes to Dustbuster the floor, and he helped me with the trash the other night - even dragging it to the garage!

Jackson is definitely on the move lately. I picked him up at Parents Day Out one day and was getting ready to carry him to the car. One of his teachers asked me why I don't just let him walk, and I explained that I can't keep him close to me because he moves too fast. She commented that he does really well with them when they go from outdoor play or playing in the church sanctuary. He is usually the line leader and leads the kids from their room to the play area. And he doesn't bolt. Wow! Unfortunately, I can't get him to do that for me. And inside the house, he is a wild man too. His new favorite thing to do this week is throw the couch pillows on the floor and jump from the couch onto the pillows. He has no fear. But, thankfully, he has gained depth perception. He no longer looks clueless when he's up high and ready to step off. The difference is that now he knows how high it is but wants to jump off it for the thrill. We went to a playground last week and he wasn't as bad as I expected, and pretty good about jumping off things and landing on both feet. He continually amazes me in his ability to survive these daredevil feats unscathed.

Now, on to our Katie. Oh, she's a firecracker. I am dreading the day when the two kids realize they can join forces and conquer me. Because I know it will happen. They are both so strong-willed and almost kill me separately. But add them together? Be. Very. Afraid.

The good news is that Katie is usually pretty concerned about pleasing us. The times she gets into trouble are for things she doesn't think through first. (Of course, that's typical for a five-year-old.) On Tuesday we went for a walk together and there was an elderly woman slowly creeping down her driveway to her mailbox. When we were about ten feet away, Katie said (in an old lady voice), "Oh, look at me. I can't walk." "WHAT did you say?!" I hissed back at her. She was fearful and immediately tried to say she was talking about herself because she knew it was wrong. But I told her I knew what she was doing, and we don't make fun of other people. She was immediately remorseful and said, "I wish I hadn't said that." I told her it was too late, and she lost all 12 marbles from her marble jar (she was only 8 away from a big treat). It was a rough lesson for her.

Usually, Katie is eager to please and loves to cuddle and read books together. She and Dan have lots of special time together. She acts like anything he does is a total blast, even mopping. She is a one-woman art show, and can spend hours writing in her notebooks and cutting and pasting creations at the kitchen table. The sheer volume of her artwork is mesmerizing. She is reading on her own now, and writing very well. Of course she still can't spell everything correctly, but she writes exactly like the words sound and it's easy to figure out what she's trying to communicate. This afternoon she practiced drawing flowers and wrote, "All cinds uv flowrs" beside it. [Translation: all kinds of flowers.] She got a great third quarter report from her teacher, whose only complaint was that Katie is afraid to try something new if she has any possibility of failure. (My dad is in heaven, chuckling at the payback.) When we're in the car, Katie loves to get her dry erase board out and color. She also loves it when we are at a stoplight and I write some simple addition problems for her. Sometimes she spouts out math quizzes for me from the back seat, yelling things like, "How much is 20 plus 20?" I so enjoy watching her little mind make sense of the world.

Katie has a giving heart and loves to make presents for people. She wraps things up in paper and straps it closed with Scotch tape. We go through rolls of that stuff because she uses enough to shellac the thing closed. Right now there's a package sitting on the counter for Jackson. I have no idea what's inside. I think we'll find out on his birthday. Katie is really into board games (we played about 8 rounds of Guess Who this afternoon) and also LOVES the I Spy books. (But I already blogged about that here.) She is so independent these days: dressing herself, setting the table, showering, brushing and flossing her teeth on her own, and entertaining herself when needed. It's such a weird feeling to have been needed and consumed by her so deeply the last few years, and all of a sudden realize the need has shifted to someone else (Jackson) and she's off on her own, beginning to spread her wings.
When the going has gotten tough in the past, Dan and I have often mumbled to each other, "Be the wall." We believe that sometimes kids just need something to push up against to learn their boundaries, and the parents need to be the strong wall that kids keep throwing themselves against. I'm now realizing that Katie isn't pushing as much (yes, she's still pushing but not as much), but have I stopped being rigid? I don't think so... and I think it's time to lighten up. Not stop altogether, but just dial it down a few degrees.

The big picture in our family is this: we are happy, blessed, and love each other without a doubt. We're imperfect and learning the ropes together. But, thankfully, we forgive each other and keep trying day in and day out. And we talk about that forgiveness too, which I think is important. We have some great times together, and really do enjoy each other.