In the last 24 hours I have said to D:
"I want a one year old in the house forever!"
"Three is the best age! She is hilarious!"
"I was told six was a really hard age, but I'm seeing lots of maturity and so far it has not been hard at all."
Yes, I'm really enjoying my kids right now.
One year olds are just adorable. I think it's God's little conspiracy to make sure they get loved on even when we are frazzled and tired. Z screams, poops a lot, runs away during diaper changes, throws food on the floor, eats paper, climbs on the table, eats things out of the trash, and is 18 pounds of destruction and chaos. But she makes this squishy face that cracks me up even though she won't let me get it on camera, she toddles around taking herself quite seriously, she kisses and hugs us all, she makes little squeaking sounds when she nurses, and she puts her head on the floor like she's going to do a somersault, but ends up walking around with her head scootching across the carpet. And people who get mad about babies wiggling during diaper changes have no idea what they are missing. I take her pants off, she runs away. She laughs and comes back. I take her diaper off, she runs away again, naked little butt mooning the world. She laughs and comes back and I raspberry her tummy. I put the new diaper on and she runs away again. Act of utter defiance or fun bonding time? You are the parent, you get to decide how you respond.
Three year olds are God's gift to the humorously challenged. I can't stand potty humor in most cases- give me some good sarcastic wit. But L talking about farting can leave me in stitches. For example, my recent facebook status:
L just came into the room laughing and said "I farted!" I said, "That's fascinating, my dear." She answered, "Yah! It's not stinky, it's funny! Now I need hot chocolate because inside my body is cold." Apparently, farting cools off the insides.
Today, she looked at me with the most serious expression, furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing?" she asked. It was if the answer would help her unlock the mystery of my parental super powers, the unsolvable riddle of "How did you know THAT [E and I got chocolate, but you couldn't see us]?"
Six year olds are God's gift to parents of younger children. Parenting three is actually easier in some ways than parenting one was. E plays with L all day, helps keep Z off the table and out of the cupboards, brings me diapers, and makes sure the tub gets drained after baths. She is trustworthy and responsible for her age. She loves being the big kid who gets to stay up after her sisters fall asleep to eat ice cream with mom and dad, and gets to go outside to play with the neighborhood kids by herself. She is getting more and more interesting to talk to, though we've always had great conversations, but they are just getting better as she gets older. I need to remember to do less talking and more listening, because I want to soak up her perspective before it gets tainted by all the realities of the world.
What ages are your kids and what are you enjoying about them right now?
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