1. Toby is mostly potty trained. The arduous journey with Silas with potty training was so frustrating and so long, that the thought of even starting Toby before 2 was completely unappealing to me. However, before I speak too soon, he has come a long way and definitely is a more independent guy than his older brother- for which I am greatly relieved! We've moved completely over to underwear with very few accidents. So. Thankful.
2. Both boys on bikes. It took awhile but Toby has finally started figuring out the strider bike and with Silas on a pedal bike now...I am so thrilled (and slightly terrified). I am definitely the slowest one on walks now which has me a little concerned. However, hopefully this means that when baby comes along I can put her in the stroller for nap/walks and the boys can toodle along at a decent enough click for her to sleep. So excited to see what this summer will entail!
3. Watching the boys play together. They still fight, but now that Toby can talk so much more and understand so much more, they are more often found playing together than fighting. I literally had lost hope a few months back because they fought Every. Single. Second. Of. The. Day. I am just delighted every time I see them entertaining each other. "Toby, want to do this?" "Okay, Silas." Just today they were playing doctor together- ridiculously cute and hilarious. Silas would fall down the stairs (intentionally) and limp to Toby the "surgeon" and he would fix him up. With woodworking tools of course, and in our furnace/laundry room because where better to do surgery? (Don't worry, I DID insert a bit of nursing in there and made sure Toby washed his hands before making the first incision).
4. Silas helping his brother. I could cry, this brings me such joy. If my hands are tied up, I'll see if Silas can help Toby when he's calling for me. Silas will bring him a kleenex, show him how to do something or help him get some water, take off his shoes, or whatever else Toby needs. I love seeing Silas rise to the big brother role and I love it when Toby realizes that I'm not the only one to meet his needs, but that he can ask his brother too.
5. Exploring the outdoors with the boys. I literally cannot wait until summer. We spent over 2 hours the other just wandering in and out of the woods. We played with sticks, they climbed trees, we made bridges and threw rocks. I. Love. This. Silas was like "come explore with me Toby!" "Okay Silas." Love.
6. Seeing Silas learn. I love sitting down with this intelligent boy and watching him learn to write his letters, read words, and just soak up knowledge like a sponge. Sometimes he can drive me a little nuts with his insatiable need to understand. He can even scare me with the deep and difficult questions he asks like "When is daddy gonna die?" or "Why did God not heal that little boy, doesn't He heal everyone?" But I love that He so relentlessly seeks to understand and am excited to see him learn.
7. Seeing the boys create and craft. I especially love Silas' newfound skill of drawing. He always drew without purpose- you know, colouring in blobs and random lines. But now he actually tries to draw things and has stories to tell about his pictures. I love seeing how his brain works! He has also taken to 'crafting' in his quiet time. I leave him with scissors, tape, random cardboard boxes and crayons and he makes the most awesome creations (airplanes, cars, etc).
8. The boys sleep in bunk beds. This is pretty much awesome and took awhile to conquer (and sometimes we still separate them) but I love that they share a room. Perfect timing too!
All this to say, I most often mope and groan about the challenges of raising two close-in-age boys, and let me tell you, there are a LOT of challenges. But I'm also finding new joy in little ways. I'm a bit sad to see this season of our family of 4 come to a close, but I'm curious to see how they react to a new little girl around. Here's hoping that all the above doesn't crumble when a new little life is added into our home!
Painting in the tub
Playing airplane together
Another quiet time creation..
Pre-outdoors play.
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