Oh man, this has got to be my favorite stage!! Yes, my one year old has started getting very insistent about having her own way and I have a little threenager on my hands some days. But Maggie has finally started sleeping through the night and I cannot tell you how much I am loving the three year old Gabriel who is actually eating and sleeping and generally much more happy again.
Perhaps it has something to do with really having found playmates in each other. I live for the moments when I glance back while we are driving to find Gabriel holding Maggie's hand to try and stop her from crying. The toys and snacks go back and forth as they share in the backseat. I am a proud mama over the simplest gestures, like the first cookie offered to his sister before taking his own.
Gabriel is making all sorts of connections which is really fun to watch. He stares up at the pictures on the wall in our kitchen and declares: "Bumpa is like a Daddy..... Grandpa is like a Daddy..... ChouChou is like a Mommy..... Nana is like a Mommy " And then he points to a picture of Jordan as a baby and says "Daddy like a Maggie!" It's that simple ability to recognize that people can be more than one thing--Bumpa is a boy, a Bumpa AND a Daddy.
And we have loved watching them develop their own sense of humour. He'll point to me and say, "You Daddy? You Maggie? You Gabo?" And then laugh.
Me: Watch out, don't jam Maggie's foot. (Under the rocking horse)
Gabriel: Watch out Maggie, don't step on the jam!
Maggie loves to get Gabriel going. She'll crawl over to the dog bed, flop down on it and start pretending to tickle her tummy as an open invitation to get Gabriel to tickle and chase her. Maggie is seriously walking now. No more crawling here! And oh my goodness, all those beautiful garbled toddler words are flying out of her mouth. Besides the obvious, are "hiding," "strawberry," and even little sentences like "Hi Daddy." I am pretty sure it's all due to her older brother who never stops moving or rattling on about this or that.
Oh my darlings, you keep me laughing. You keep me humble and make me proud. You are my everythings. And while I go to bed completely exhausted each night after what can be a long and/or tiring day, I cannot imagine how joyless my life would be without you.
No comments:
Post a Comment