Just like Daddy

Cason is going through an identity crisis. In the last month his whole world has turned topsy turvy. First it was deciding to wear underwear and learning to become successful on the toilet. He is still having fairly frequent accidents, but there is clearly no going back. Learning to potty awakened the big boy in him. So soon after that naps went out the window. I am sad to see the naps go. It was a guaranteed time of quiet for me and we usually got to cuddle a little too. Plus I got to sneak in his room and admire his sleeping form before waking him up each afternoon. It's hard to let go. Then over the weekend after a few days of extreme hyperactivity, it dawned on my that I hadn't seen him suck his thumb for a while. You know like this...



or this...



Nope no more ear holding and thumb sucking. Soothing him was so easy by rubbing his ears, or letting him hold onto my ears. I wish I had gotten paid for all the hours the child spent holding onto one of my ears. For a while he had us stumped every time he would tell us that he had a closed ear and an open ear. Then he would examine our ears and determine which of ours were closed and open. The mystery was solved by Josh one day. We each have one ear with softer cartilige at the top, one that would fold open and one that wouldn't. A closed ear and an open ear. That child loved ears. But no more.

We asked him why he had stopped sucking his thumb. He said "Because I'm big. My toes are getting bigger and my head is getting bigger." It's really amazing that he came to that all on his own.

He talks daily about going to school. He can't wait. For now I'm mourning truly being past the baby stage. Yes he is almost four years old, but for the first time he's pulling away, expressing independence. "No, I can do it!" No, please let me do it for you one more time. It's heartbreaking and exciting at the same time.

Thank you.

We've felt the prayers. These kind of behavior issues don't resolve quickly, but we do feel encouraged. We know we've got two special little men depending on us and we won't let them down.

There's an old saying, or maybe it's not an old saying, or maybe it's not even a saying at all...anyway somewhere along this parenting journey I've heard more than once that once you get to the point where you are crying out for help that it means the problem is already on its way out.

There have been some things to be thankful for lately too.

1. We're all healthy (well besides Rio, but that's another point). After dealing with some form or another of sickness in most of February and some of March, we are all finally completely healthy.

2. In between fits of anger, Jonah is very loving. This past weekend he and Josh made a run to the grocery store and surprised me with flowers when they came back. Lilies. My favorite. They are blooming one by one and our living room is filled with their heady scent.

3. Cason is 85% potty trained. We knew he would eventually get excited about it and in the end his timing is nearly identical to his brothers. While on our trip to Colorado Springs, he discovered he could go standing up. He was so delighted by his success that it continued when we came home. He still has an accident or two each day but he is taking charge and cleaning himself up. After six years and seven months, I think we are finally done buying diapers!!

4. Today I got to use the gift certificate that Josh gave me for Christmas. It was for an hour massage and spa treatment. I choice the sea nutrients hydrator. Basically she painted green stuff on me. Not sure I would pay for that treatment on it's own, but altogether it was so very relaxing.

5. Rio's not dead. I mentioned that Rio was sick. He seemed to have caught something from one of the puppies we had here. There was much vomiting and diarrhea. We took him to the vet and were reassured it wasn't a blockage. He was prescribed antibiotics and we were given instructions to watch for worsening lethargy. This morning he woke up and couldn't walk right. His hind legs were clearly weak and he was arching his back and really just looked bad, he just kept wanting to lay back down any time we got him moving. The worst started going through our heads and we had to discuss how far we would go for him. Thankfully, the vet was able to see right away that his leg problem was a different problem of its own. One steroid shot later and he is well on his way to being his normal self. I'm thankful that he will be living a long and full life with us.