Every day, and so many times throughout the day, I think, "I need to write this down somewhere."
We're mere
days away from becoming a family of four and I have this overwhelming urge to try to bottle up who Josiah is at this time in his life. I just know who he is right now is on the verge of changing...a lot. Just like we all will be changing, I know he will be too. So much of what he says and does and the various facets of his exploding
personality tends to escape me as time goes by and it kills me to think that my favorite things about him might be a bit overshadowed by this other wonderful occasion of welcoming a new person into our family...and the inevitable sleep deprivation that comes along with her.
So, more for my memory's sake than anything else...
* The way he talks with his head...especially when he's in "Negotiator" mode. He cocks it to the side and shakes/nods it as if to show us how to say "yes" to whatever he's suggesting. And there's usually a bit of a killer crooked grin present to sweeten the deal. **Mental note: train this boy up in the Lord to be kind and respectful and to learn to accept "no" graciously. This level of heart-melting persuasion could really be trouble in the future.**
* The way he whisper-sings songs to Lydia in my belly. His favorite one to sing right now is Daniel Tiger's "You Can Be A Big Helper in Your Family." It's from the newest episode where he becomes a big brother. Melts my heart. And I've tried to get a video of him doing it, but it's really a very difficult angle and quite unflattering of me.
*He's actually become quite the enthusiast about helping Mommy and Daddy do some things around the house. It's not because of the Daniel Tiger song, although, it does help to relate it to that, and it's not always actually even helpful to us. Oftentimes, it's quite the opposite. But I'm rarely opposed to encouraging a helpful spirit. For example, he likes to help fold the washcloths and small dish towels and put away the silverware (bonus points for sorting skills!) and whatever baking/cooking that doesn't interfere with watching shows and picking up things Mommy dropped or can't reach and occasionally helping Daddy water the plants. Let's just hope he's just as helpful at fetching bottles and pacis and burp cloths.
 |
| Helping Mommy put away the silverware. |
* His favorite shows to watch right now are Design Squad and Sid the Science Kid on PBSkids. Design Squad is a show with real kids who are working to create and re-purpose things and figure out how things work. Basically, little engineers. And he loves it and is constantly trying to do what they do. I've even seen the effects of it when he hasn't necessarily been watching the show. I'll find him pretending to create
something. He told me the other day that he created a pulley out of an old lanyard hanging up by the front door with our keys. He was using it to send food up a tree to a family. And went on to describe (in great detail) how he made it and how he was using it and what foods they were eating. He's three. And Sid the Science Kid is all about various aspects of science...obviously. And I kind of let him watch as much of those shows as he wants because, Lord knows, his genes are not scientifically stocked.
 |
| Showing me how his pulley system works. |
* Kid still puts together a mean puzzle. His favorite right now is the giant dinosaur puzzle from Nana and PopPop. Every time I've picked him up from school this last week he's doing puzzles. And he gets upset that I came to take him home and interrupted him.
* He does not like to be sticky or dirty. He's currently refusing to finish his waffle and is begging me to get him out of his seat so he can wash his hands. (I gave him a fork, but he threw it on the floor.)
*Also, he knocks his cup on the floor whenever it's empty. Drives me insane.
* He adds an additional past tense on most, if not all, his verbs. For example: "We danced-ed at the party." "I dropped-ed my fork." "I had-ed to go potty." This also drives me nuts, but I get that it's totally developmental and he actually gets the idea of the past tense. I try not to correct him but just repeat it back to him correctly.
*He's outrageously inquisitive. Questions, questions, questions all. day. long. We even get comments from strangers about how curious and inquisitive he is.
*His love language is "zrbtts." Don't know what that is?
Check out this clip. He's been practicing a soft, gentle one for Lydia. I'm still nervous.
*He's obsessed with bootys and poopy and other male genitalia. Did I mention that he's a three year old boy?
* He's really the sweetest guy in little pockets of the day. The best is in the mornings. He'll come get in the bed with me for a few minutes before I get up and cuddle. (He actually gets upset if I'm already awake and up for the day and he'll tell me to go get back in bed.) He puts his arm around my neck and smooshes his face into mine and says something to the effect of, "Awwww! You're the best Mommy." Or "I love so much." Makes me hate the alarm even more than what's normal. And yes, there are the occasional meltdowns because I've rejected a request for shows or candy, but they're far less frequent than the cloud-nine cuddles.
Of course, there's SO.MUCH.MORE that I could say about him and his personality right now. But these are the main things I want to remember and treasure.
What a great kid we have! And what a stellar Big Brother he will be!
