Family Fun and Another Milestone

So I love my boys...and I love that my boys let me take pictures of them...though the younger of the two is not always very cooperative...yet every now and again we can capture something fun.

This week has been a little extra challenging on the home-owner side of things, as we have had two relatively large problems to deal with... the sound of running water which ended up being a slab leak and resulted in getting a plumber who cut holes in our walls to cut and reroute some pipes...as well as a leaky patio roof [well this one has been going on awhile, but this is the week we decided to tackle it]. Needless to say, we have spent a couple of nights eating out and shopping at Home Depot. Derick has been a little trooper and seems to tag right along with what needs to be done.

Well yesterday Ricky worked on tearing off the existing patio roof from the time he got home from work until just after dark. Derick is used to getting his attention during that time of day, so he struggled a little with it, but did the best he could. When Daddy took his tools outside to work, Derick grabbed his Handy Manny toolbox and followed right behind him. Obviously, Ricky had to climb up the roof and Derick wasn't allowed to follow. So he did the best he could...he drug his climber slide over and carried his tools to the top, then proceeded to shout at his daddy. First he asked to trade buckets (as Ricky had grabbed one of his little sand buckets to use to throw in his loose nails). When that didn't work he started saying "Dad, you come down from there." Hmm...sounds familar. Still no luck succeeding, he gave it another attempt. "Dad, watch out...there are spiders up there." Ricky and I couldn't help but chuckle at that one...it was cleaver on his part.

As it got later and later, I opted to make dinner...as I had been waiting for Ricky to finish, but it was taking a bit longer than anticipated. Derick and I had dinner together while Ricky continued working on the roof. Again, this was a bit challenging for Derick as he is used to having his daddy help feed him and was looking for attention/interaction. Natasha tried to help bribe him with a surprise. As a two year old would do when not getting his way, he started acting up and flipping food off his fork/plate...so I declared there would be NO surprises. We finished up and Derick disappeared into his room.

A few minutes went by and it was dead quiet (usually a scary thing) so Tash went and checked on him. She returned with a report that he was trying to dress himself. I snuck up to the doorway with the video and captured him putting on his pajamas all by himself. He was struggling with the top, could get his arms in, but the head was upside down... Needless to say the hole for the head got veeerrry stretched out as he pulled it up and down on his body. We quietly watched as he sat down and put his feet in the leg holes then stood up and struggled to yank it up over his diaper. It was about this time that he saw us and said "Mama I need help" then yelled "Don't look at me auntie Tata". Rrrr... a little snappy. I told him how proud I was of him that he was such a big boy and you could see his pride light up his face. I am sure I will enjoy the days that he is more independent, yet my heart is a little sad knowing that he will need me less in these ways. So it is exciting yet bittersweet as we hit this new milestone. I don't think I will feel the same way about the potty training...as I don't foresee myself missing changing stinky diapers....yet it doesn't seem we are there yet, so time will tell!

Apparently Not....

So these past two months my question has been answered...My two year old has NOT been an angel. The face here shows how we have been with each other lately...constantly battling. And it has been quite challenging!! I decided that I should make an entry after an extremely long and rough week...as I do need to remember some of these more difficult times as well. In previous entries on his baby journal website:[ http://www.babysites.com/sites/derickruiz ] I seemed to sit down and write when I was more on the happy side of the spectrum...as there as so many incredible cute moments that I wanted to be sure to record. Yet, I do also want to accurately be able to recall some 'real' but not so fun times...so that way when I am old and gray, I can't tell him that he was a perfect angel all the time :)

What has made the week so challenging? Well #1 probably was that Derick was sick. He had a mild fever which over a course of a few days seemed to spike pretty high over 103, so I did take him to the Dr. We found that he had an ear infection. I was very thankful as that is a pretty quick recovery once we started the meds. However, during the time he was feeling lousy, I think I may have cut him a little too much slack on his poor behavior. I kept thinking that he must feel awful and really doesn't have any way to express it, so I let some bad things slide...from some kicking at me, to the shouting of No, to outright disregard for the requests I would make of him. Well now that I have had more than 4 hours of straight sleep I realized I should have put my foot down regardless of how he was feeling. Needless to say we are getting back on track and it seems half the day is spent in time out or else talking about timeout. It's probably not that bad, but those battles seem endless some days. This next picture is how I feel....like screaming!!

Yet, we have had some fun. I love, love, love listening to his sentences getting more complex. He is so curious and wants to know the names of everything and will still repeat anything new he hears. His natural inclination to learn astounds us! It has also been so funny that he still likes to tell on himself. He will say, "Mommy, I hit Max." or "Mommy, I throw the ball and it hit that." Or when I pick him up from somewhere, he will tell me what his caregiver has told him not to do... "Wayne say no throw rocks." "Erin say no hit with bat in the house."

Yet the sweet moments are as tender as ever. "Mommy, I love you." "Mommy, here is a kiss for you." and my all time favorite, " Mommy, I love you with all my heart" while stretching his arms so wide. It is also the taking of my hand when we are walking...he says, "Watch out, there are cars." It's this moments I try and bank as I am sure I will need them come the teenage years!

We thank and praise God for the blessing we have in our family. His grace is infinite and gifts are endless. We thank Him for leading us gently.

"He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
He gently leads those that have young."
Isaiah 40:11