Jack had All About Me week at school which means he got to bring in pictures, awards, artwork, etc. to decorate a bulletin board. Last Friday, we picked out pictures of him and found some good ones, like his Baptism with his God Parents, Aunt Julie and Uncle Mike, a picture of his cast when he broke his arm, first trip to the beach--Fripp Island, his dad's graduation from Harvard Law, and among a few others, we found a picture of me holding him standing with John in front of the West Wing of the White House. Jack had to explain these pictures to his classmates, so I told him about each of them because he was too young to remember most of the experiences. The White House picture was intriguing to him. He didn't know what the White House was, which prompted questions about the President. I explained that Uncle Mike worked at the White House with President Bush and we were able to tour it with Uncle Mike when Jack was 6 months old. That was Friday. On Monday, while waiting for the bus, I got the pictures out and we looked them over again. Jack remembered the significance of each picture. I put the pictures back in his backpack. A few minutes later, he asked me, "Mom, when Uncle Mike worked at the White House, was he king of the world?" Oh, the funny things kids say. I think Uncle Mike would appreciate that one.
Jack has be begging us to be a "full-day-er" so beginning on Monday, he will start full days for the last quarter of school. Packed lunches, recesses and free time will fill his afternoons. He told me he is super excited, however, he knows his feet will get hot being in shoes all day. This kid is such a hot-natured kid! He hates shoes and socks and often we find him in short-sleeved tees and shorts in the winter. There is one other thing about Jack I want to mention, but we are still pretty early in the process. I think he is slowly outgrowing his nighttime bed-wetting. We have been keeping a chart with check marks for good behavior. With each check mark, he earns a quarter to spend at Disney. John told him if he keeps his pull-up dry he gets a check mark every day. I honestly don't think this is why he stopped wetting, I just think he was ready to outgrow it, but I realized he has only wet the bed twice in the last month. Last night he wore underwear and was dry. I am not convinced that is the end of it, but I am hoping and I think we are moving in the right direction.
Yesterday, I made a solo trip to a park with the four kids. This is the first time I have ever attempted this. The weather was perfect--mid 70s. My twins club had a playgroup there, so I thought I would try it. The park was rather large and because it was such a nice day, there were a few too many kids there for my liking. I was constantly scanning for my kids. This experience reaffirmed the fact that I will be dressing the girls alike for a while so I can more easily keep track of them. At this particular park, there was a giant hill, too. I mean, GIANT. I need to file this in the back of my head for future sledding trips. Jack decided to run up the hill and run down. As I watched him, I was cracking up. He ran full speed down the hill and about halfway down, his legs couldn't keep up and he face planted...got up and began to run down again. He was laughing, but from his knees down, he was full of mud! The second trip up the hill and he had three little duckings (sisters) following him. At first I was reluctant to let the girls climb it because it was so big, but I thought, well, let's tire them out. So to my surprise, all three made it up the hill and all three walked down (holding hands with me), laughing the whole time. Needless-to-say, we were at the park for about 1.5 hours and I actually would call it a success. I am beginning to believe I can do these types of things by myself. I had little time to socialize with other twin moms, but I will save that to another day. Yesterday was a day for my kids to be "normal" kids.
Today, I took the girls to the story time at the library like I have done in the past and they are getting better at sitting and listening. All three love to dance to the music and I only had to tell Kate once to get off the chair. Afterwards, we went into the Discovery Works part of the library to play with the trains and other toys. I had an older woman come up to me and compliment me on the girls behavior and also on me as a mom of the three. She told me she has seen me at the library before and she refers to me when her daughter complains about taking care of her one child. Wow. I have to say it was a very nice thing to hear. Especially when I go though times at home when the girls are on my very last nerve and all I want them to do it take a nap...like today..and then Kate climbed out of her crib...I am slowly resorting to the fact that we will be purchasing toddler beds in the near future. I guess after the Disney trip, I will be potty-training and toddler bed training and my life as I know it will begin another cycle. With every new cycle, there is a period of harder times. I'll take my successes and kind words and file them back for these harder times. No diapers and no cribs, that sounds great, but then again, a part of me is sad. Gosh, no diapers, no cribs...my babies are growing up.
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