James has outgrown his 1 1/2 year firetruck obsession. He still loves rescue vehicles, but that obsession has morphed into rescue helicopters and helicopters in general. To feed this new interest we decided to go to the local air show. Unfortunately we arrived at the peak of a wind/rain storm and weren't able to go to the actual show. Luckily, however, there's an aviation museum which fulfilled all of our expectations. Miss Katelyn came along as well, turning the outing into a holiday and making for a fun day. She always makes our boys feel so special, big, and loved. She's a huge help, especially in keeping track of the wandering one (Daniel), and James is able to enjoy life with her because he doesn't have to be the big, responsible one.
Speaking of James, he put us all through one heck of a week. But in the end, he did a few extraordinarily tender things that totally redeemed himself (I'm writing these for myself so I don't forget them):
1) Saturday was a cold, wet, and windy day. None of us were entirely dressed for it, especially James... Mike dropped us all off in the front of the Aviation museum. Baby, carseat, big huge stroller, James, Katelyn, umbrellas, and bags. I had Andrew in the carseat and just assumed that Katelyn would push the stroller and James would help to steer Daniel in the right direction. Considering the situation under control, I briskly carried Andrew into the museum without looking back once. When we were finally in and I look back, I see Kate and Dan come through the doors... then I see my responsible four year old carrying the world on his little shoulders-- standing at the doors, drenched and dripping from the rain, and pushing the BOB stroller that is three times his size. It never occurred to him to pitch a fit or to just leave the stroller out in the rain. He's such a big helper, and it's times like that where I so appreciate his perceptive and responsible personality but at the same time want to see him relax and be a kid.
2) Like I said, without going into any awful detail, the kid put us through the ringer this week. We're all coping with the change of schedule, life, and stress of a new baby. Both boys were in and out of our room at night, throwing fits, getting colds, and fighting. After one especially long night, I wake up in the morning with Andrew in my arms on one side (he's decided that in my arms is the only way he wants to sleep) and little James curled up to me on my other side just as close as he could get himself.
3) James has been begging to have friends over all week. I can't even watch my own kids let alone an additional one! However, I besides myself with him so I caved in and invited a sweet, calm, and polite friend to come over and play for a while. Why not? Our house is a pure wreck, not being properly cleaned in months and toys strewn all over the floor of every room. What more could another kid do? The boys had a great time together, played well, and entertained each other. The way James treated his friend in trying to make him happy and comfortable was so sweet. It's these little glimpse of my James that helped me get through the hard moments.
4) James and Daniel sang a duet in sharing time last week. Mike and I both spaced it out all week, and in the back of my mind I kind of thought they would chicken out, making it low on the priority list. Well, late Saturday night, James was still very much planning on singing. I encouraged him to sing"I Love to see the Temple" because they both know that one, but he chose "I am a Child of God." We sang through it twice and called it good. During Sharing Time on Sunday, with my help and the accompaniment of the piano, the two sang it, feeling so big and special.
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