My "Almost Five"-Year-Old

For a couple of months, Ethan has been saying he's four and a half. Then a few weeks ago, he announced he's no longer 4. He is "almost 5." He actually already seems 5 to me. He's seemed so "grown up" lately. It makes me a little sad, on the one hand, and a little relieved at how much more independent (and therefore less work) he is. Colin stepped right up to take on the role of time-consuming child, though.

He is such a great, patient, kind older brother. He is so much more patient with Colin than I am. I took Colin's food away once because he just kept repeatedly throwing it on the floor. After a few minutes of watching Colin cry, Ethan quietly said, "He can have some of mine, Mom." Colin's life (and my life) are much easier because Ethan is so easy going.

Both boys woke up really tired one morning and camped out next to each other to watch TV. They are actually becoming friends now that Colin is getting old enough to play, and most of the time, get along great. It's fun to watch and so nice for me as their mom to have them entertain each other.

He LOVES to build, and has moved out of the "train" stage into the "lego" stage. His assistant preschool teacher said he is the "class engineer." He saved his money and bought a scooter he's wanted, which I ordered for him online. Unfortunately, it arrived early in the morning while Jason was at work, so I was responsible for the "some assembly" required. It wasn't complicated, but this is not my "thing." Ethan had to show me which end of the wrench to use to tighten one of the bolts. That's pretty sad. This is also the one area where his little brother tries his patience. Ethan would prefer to build (monorail tracks, lego creations, block creations) all day long, but can't do it with a certain adorable but destructive little "helper" on the loose, and he isn't willing to shut himself in his room alone. So we're always trying to walk that fine line.

He's a perfectionist, which can cause challenges and frustrations for him when he can't make things go the way he thinks they should. He's also shown signs of being really good at math, which gives him something in common with my dad (and is one area where I cannot relate at all). 

We were playing a game the other day and he was describing someone (himself) and I had to guess who it was. Here's what he said: "He has blue eyes. He really likes Batman. He likes school. He likes to build things. And he loves his mom." He's a sweetheart, and it's one of the things I really adore about him. 

A few cute (to his parents, at least) Ethanisms from the last month or so:

After church one Sunday:

Ethan: Dad, who is Sin?

Jason: Who?

Ethan: You know, Sin. Is he a bad guy?

Jason: Where did you hear about it?

Ethan: You know, like in the song, [singing] 'Scripture power...keeps us safe from sin.'

After I reprimanded him for something he did (I can't even remember what it was):

Ethan (in all seriousness): I didn't do it, Mom. My finger did.

He likes doing high-energy things but has a certain innate caution that sometimes holds him back. He's been slowly overcoming this, though, and I recently had the first experience with him where I had to look away because he was making me nervous. It involved sliding down a very slick rock in Central Park (below, zoomed in and "actual size"). His dad was right there encouraging him, of course.

The other day he asked me why strawberries have seeds on the outside, so I launched into a long conversation about how everything that grows has seeds, and we talked about all the fruits he likes and where their seeds are. After a few minutes of pondering this, he asked, "Mom, where are our seeds?"

Oh, boy.

I answered that mommies have them in their tummies, and that's how I'm able to grow a baby right now. I've made a mental note to give him a more scientifically accurate answer at a (much) later date.

He's LOVED preschool this year and is so excited to go to kindergarten in the fall (at " graduation" below). His teachers and classmates were so great. His teacher said he's the kid every other kid likes and that every teacher wants in her class. We're so proud of him.

What Jason's been up to

Unfortunately, I don't have time at the moment to post an update on the kids. But I will soon...until then, go here to see what Jason's been doing. He's off playing again this week, this time fishing with friends out west. I'm packing up the kids and taking them to various beaches for 10 days, which is why I don't have time to post at the moment (have to go dig out the beach gear...I don't think I've seen it since we moved!).

(Over-)Sharing Time

I can't decide if, when he's older, Ethan will think this story is funny, or humiliating. I'm going to take a risk and document it anyway.

Some background: When he's engaged in any activity (TV, games, playing trucks, etc.), Ethan cannot be bothered to stop and go to the bathroom no matter how urgently he needs to. He gets in trouble if I tell him to go (because the signs are obvious), he ignores me completely, then has an accident. Completely unrelated (in my mind, but apparently not his): when I've been dropping him off at primary lately he hugs me and doesn't want me to leave. I say, "I'm going to my class. Don't have any fun today!" He always laughs and runs off to sit with his friends, and reports after that he did have fun despite what I said.

Which brings us to Sunday's junior sharing time. Here's the email I got from one of the primary counselors:

Today I taught about how we follow Jesus' example, and after discussing various gospel art pictures of Jesus serving, praying, reading, etc, I invited the children to share how they were trying to follow Jesus' example. Ethan raised his hand. “I'm following Jesus by listening to my mom, and I listen to her and do what she says,” he stated loudly and clearly so that everyone could hear. “But sometimes I'm having too much fun and I forget to listen and I pee in my pants.” Strong emphasis was put on the word pee. Stifling a laugh, I tried to move to another child, but Ethan persisted, “My mom told me not to have fun at church, but guess what! I'm having fun AND my underwear is dry!”

Jason and I were concerned about how the other kids reacted, but one of the teachers told me that the best part was that the other kids were all nodding in complete understanding.

Easter weekend

I've decided Easter is my new favorite holiday. It doesn't have all the stress associated with the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's season, the weather is gorgeous, there's still a religious aspect to it (though the things we do to celebrate aren't really related), and kids love it!

We started Saturday morning by having a neighborhood Easter-egg hunt. There are only 9 houses in our "neighborhood", but we had 10 kids, which was perfect. They came to our house to decorate baskets while some of the adults hid eggs at the houses down the street. I contributed 2 dozen eggs, thinking that would be perfect, but some of the other women went a little overboard and we had over 500 eggs for 10 kids.

I tried to get some pictures of Ethan, but I couldn't keep up with him. He had a blast. Colin was very hesitant at first, then totally got into it. After a while he would wander off on his own into the wooded areas, bring back eggs and drop them in the basket Jason was carrying. He was so cute. Then he discovered that there was candy inside, and he would bring each egg to us to open for him. Easter morning started with a hunt to find the eggs we had dyed earlier in the week, easter baskets, then breakfast before rushing off to 9 am church. After church Jason and I made dinner while the kids played. We had my family over and our friend Anna with her two kids. Dinner was yummy and relaxing and fun. It was a perfect, gorgeous, fun weekend. Everyone was healthy and happy, which we needed after March!

Dyeing Eggs

We are all alive and happily healthy. Colin is cutting 4 new teeth, but that doesn't seem like a big deal comparatively.

The boys had a ball dyeing eggs and covering them with "Lightning McQueen" stickers. Colin took it very seriously. Love the tongue sticking out in concentration.

We have an Easter egg hunt planned for tomorrow morning with our neighbors...hopefully we don't get rained out!

Good riddance, March!

March was supposed to be "family month" for us. It was, but it also ended up being "illness month." Not fun.

We were scheduled to see every one of my siblings except for my youngest sister, and every one of Jason's siblings except his youngest sister, and all 4 of our parents. The first week of March, my sister was going to fly out with her 2 kids. Her daughter got the flu 2 days before they were scheduled to leave, so they had to cancel their trip. Bummer.

The second week of March, Jason flew to San Diego for a work convention. I flew with the boys to New York, dropped them off at Jason's parents' house, and flew out Tuesday to join Jason. We had a great time and got to see two of his brothers, their wives, and their combined 6 kids, including meeting an adorable new nephew for the first time. Holding him made me so baby hungry. While we were gone, Colin got sick. We flew back to New York Friday night, and visited with Jason's parents and his brother, his brother's wife, and their 3 kids, who live in Manhattan. It was very fun to see them, but the fun was offset by the fact that Colin was vomiting, miserable, and totally not himself. Poor kid. Luckily no one else got it. More about that trip in a happier post. 

We flew home the following Monday (now the third week of March). Two days later, my other sister flew out with her 8-month-old, and my younger brother and his wife and their newborn baby boy (Mark) arrived at my parents' house. But Colin was still sick, so we stayed away. We were able to join them on Saturday for Mark's baby blessing and again on Monday evening.

Erin left on Tuesday morning (the last week of March). I knew it was going to be an insane week, because the last Thursday of the month was the quarterly enrichment dinner, and I was recently called as the enrichment leader. Jason and I prepared dinner for 50 women, and it was ambitious and busy. (I'll probably post about it later.) It was made even harder when Colin started vomiting on Wednesday. He has vomited every day since. That's 7 straight days so far. I got it Thursday, and lost 5 pounds of fluid between the time I woke up and the time I crawled in to bed. I missed the enrichment meeting, and Jason was gone most of the day trying to get the dinner done. Jason got it Thursday night, while working the overnight shift at the hospital, and Ethan on Saturday.

Jason hasn't thrown up, because he's been popping Zofran like it's candy. Ethan is a middle-of-the-night vomiter. 98% of the time he's thrown up in his life, it's been after he's gone to bed, and this time is no different.

In the last week, I've dealt with more vomit and diarrhea than I have in the nearly 5 years I've been a mom combined. I reached the end of my rope on Saturday, and now I'm at the point where I can't even see the rope anymore. I'm burning all our belongings (furniture, bedding, clothes) and selling the house. Because I'm never getting rid of the smell.

So, it's been a hard week. I know a lot of women go through much harder things, but this has been an extremely physically and emotionally exhausting experience for me. I think if I'd been mentally prepared for so many days of illness, I would be in a better place right now. But I've never had a kid vomit so many days in a row. And with Ethan throwing up only at night, I haven't slept through the night in a week, and I'm so tired. Colin won't go anywhere in the house unless I'm carrying him or holding his hand. Ethan was such a patient, great kid today, but he is so, so bored, and I haven't been out of this filthy house for any significant length of time in so long, and I am going crazy. Jason got home from work today and I was a complete mess. I just couldn't stop crying. And I'm not a crier. Ethan even looked at me and said, "Mom, what are you doing?" in a really confused tone of voice. Jason took the kids and sent me to my room, where I sat in the bathtub for an hour and tried to forget the last few days.

Now the house is clean(er), the kids are in bed, hopefully for the night, and I'm feeling better. I've been trying to think of things I'm grateful for. Here's what I've come up with:

1. My washer and dryer. How did my pioneer ancestors deal with situations like this??

2. My husband. I can't imagine being a single mom. Jason was gone for the toughest day (Thursday), but he was around Friday (after he woke up), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It was so nice having help.

3. Rug Doctor's brand of spray bottle spot-cleaner for the carpet. It's the best product ever. Seriously.

4. Our overall health. We have no chronic illnesses or disabilities, so at least I know that at some point, this will pass. Right? Right???

Sibling Fun

During the months I spent camped out on the couch, the kids found creative new ways to entertain themselves, and me. Colin made up this particular game, and then recruited Ethan to join him after a while. Colin still tries to get Ethan to do it now and then. While I'm horizontal on the couch, they line up across the room on the opposite wall. They take a moment to coordinate the attack. Then run full speed at me, while I'm yelling. When they reach me, they jump on me and laugh and laugh. It's a great thing to be entertained by your own children, and always a beautiful thing when they play together well.