Labor of love.

I've endured a lot for these boys of mine. One - the maximum amount of pitocin a woman is allowed to have followed by a full hour of pushing. The other - a totally natural delivery void of any drugs with practically no assistance.

And that was just the beginning. I've stayed up all night. I've watched my hair fall out in chunks as I washed it. I've cleaned up every bodily function known to man. I gave up a career I enjoyed, and a red convertible that I loved. Going to the bathroom alone? Who needs it. I can't remember the last time I was able to have a complete conversation on the telephone.

These, like many other mamas will tell you, are just small sacrifices so worth the rewards we receive each and every day.

But come on boys. My brand new, just out of the box running shoes and my iced green tea from Starbucks, one of the very few treats I allow myself?

Can't a mama have anything for herself?

Leftovers.

That's not his dinner plate. Evan's plate - complete with his own leftover beefstew and quinoa, is to the left of that plate. That plate, however, belonged to his older brother.

I allowed Lane to leave his plate on the table and go play with Papa so I could brush all the leftovers into the dogs' bowls that night. Each boy enjoyed plenty to eat, so I sent the three of them on their way - off to Lane's room for some tackling or pretending to be at Dixie Speedway, I'm sure.

Never one to stay focused on a task for too long, Evan found his way back in to the kitchen, up that chair and in to Lane's leftovers.

Sharing what he didn't eat of his dinner, well, I'm sure that wouldn't make Lane too mad.

Stealing the attention of his favorite dog. Well, that's just not cool, Evan.

Riddle me this.

My left brain boy (Lane) has found his "thing." Puzzles fit just right in to his way of thinking and playing, and he can happily assemble, dissemble and assemble again all day long the five puzzles he owns.

Lane's very precise when it comes to play. He usually plays with one toy at a time.

If Matchbox Cars are his choice at the time, then he's probably arranging them in a long line. Or matching them together by color or style. If Monster Jams are his toy of the moment, then he's usually taking one or two and racing them.

When his Football Guys are out, they are accurately lined up on the field. Red on one side. White on the other.

There's an exact way to play with his toys, and he will let you know how to do it when you play with him. There's no random racing of cars across the floor. There's no crashing cars in to blocks.

Unlike his mama, Lane's got a very organized mind. A routine of how to play with his toys. A way he likes to do things - each and every time.

That pertains to putting away his toys as well. At night, all of his Matchbox Cars go in one box. All of his Cars cars get lined together. His Football Guys go back in their bucket. And all of the blocks go with the appropriate blocks - alphabet blocks in one bucket, Lincoln Logs in another. All Monster Jams get lined up against his bedroom wall.

Once, while he was at school, I moved a bookshelf in to his room and placed the trucks inside its shelves. Upon his arrival home, he told me, "Hey, that's not where my Monster Jams go." Then he carefully took each one and lined all 50 of them back against his wall.

He doesn't lose toys. Legos go back in the boxes they came in. Any toys with pieces go back with the appropriate toy each night. Misplaced toys cause him much dissatisfaction.

He's lost one toy - the yellow peg in his baby peg and hammer game. The same game Evan plays with daily. He asked me where that yellow peg went. I told him we left it at Sunset Beach when he was just a baby. Weekly, he tells me we need to go back to Sunset to get that yellow peg.

Can you see where I'm going here?

Evan, who I think is going to be my right brain boy, loves a good mess. You can tell me all babies play that way, but I know better. Lane's been playing with toys in an orderly fashion since he was Evan's age.

Evan loves to put the cars in with the blocks. His is happiest when he finds a nice orderly game of Football Guys left on the floor - so he can smash right through them. He will bust right through a line of cars on the living room floor, as if Lane didn't spend 15 minutes getting that line just right.

To keep the yelling and hitting to a minimum, I've asked Lane to keep certain toys in his room. When we first started doing puzzles, we would find a nice spot on the floor and put them together. Then, Evan figured out what we were doing.

Problem solved. I asked Lane to please do his puzzles on the kitchen table. That way, Evan couldn't get to them.

Well, here's one more way my boys are different. I never had to worry about Lane climbing on anything.

Evan on the other hand spends as much time climbing on tables, chairs, stairs and furniture as Lane does arranging his toys just so.

Any one want to help me solve this problem?

My funny Valentine.

Ever since last fall, Lane's caught on to the idea of celebrations and holidays - kind of. Every few weeks, he'll ask me, "Mama, is it Halloween?" Then, I'll have to tell him, "No, Lane this month is February. We will celebrate Valentine's Day."

Once I explain that month's celebration - be it a birthday, Valentine's, New Year's, etc., - and he catches on, he will get real excited any time he sees something pertaining to that holiday.

So, since I love Valentine's, and my husband doesn't so much, I decided to get my little guy real amped up about it. We decorated with hearts all over the house, ate off red heart plates, snacked on conversation hearts and did all kind of Valentine crafts.

Loved it.

We always host our Sweetheart Dance, but decided to wait until Winter Break this year because we have all gotten so busy with school, classes, etc. Next week, the besties are coming over for a post Valentine's Day Sweetheart Dance.

Lane didn't have a party at school but he did get to swap Valentine's with all of his classmates.

Of course, he picked out monster truck cards.



He's getting really good at tracing his name. One night, after he went to bed, I wrote out his name in a light colored marker on each card. The next day, he "wrote" his name on each of his Valentines.


He took the job very seriously. Then, I asked him which card he would like for each of his friends in his class. He looked at each card and carefully picked out one for each student. He even changed his mind a few times.

After the final decisions were made, I wrote out each students' name and then we placed them in a little Valentine bag filled with treats.



On Tuesday morning, I filled a bag with all of Lane's goodies and sent him off to school. We even had a treat for Ms. Jennie, his teacher.

Such a sweet little Valentine my Lane Thomas is.

Showing off.

Funny thing keeps happening around here. Every time the boys eat cereal for breakfast, an O seems to find its way to Evan's forehead.

Coincidence?

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the little guy is showing off for us.

Green monster.

While we are talking about the things we eat around here.

(But aren't I always talking about the things we eat around here. Maybe we spend way too much time eating. Maybe that's just part of having boys.)

I've been hesitant to jump on the green smoothie bandwagon. Last week, I decided to hop on. I don't like filling up on a big breakfast before working out but need something filling and good for me before I go and burn more calories at Zumba than I consume for breakfast.

I've stood by my gluten free oats for quite a while. Yet, oatmeal started to get boring. I came across a recipe for a green smoothie that sounded pretty decent so I gave in and decided to taste what all the buzz was about.

They are delicious. I'm not kidding. Forget the two cups of spinach. There's so much taste in these smoothies - including yogurt, peanut butter, almond and banana. For less than 300 calories, I'm getting a ton of vitamins and enough energy to get me through my workout.

Don't believe me about tasting good. Just pop a straw in the cup, tell Lane it is called a green monster and the kid drank it up.

Duck soup.

Evan's at the stage where he loves to get in to my cabinets and pull out their contents. I don't really mind because seeing him "cook" is really quite cute. He will fill pots, bowls or the colander with whatever random items he can find, remove them, then fill them again - all while happily chatting to himself.

But duck for dinner? Really, Giggie, that's your best friend.

Music to my ears.

I might need to knock on some wood after I type this but lately we've had such a nice little routine around here. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Lane heads off to school. After drop off, Evan goes down for a nap and I do a little cleaning around the house. Once he wakes up, the two of us usually spend some time playing, loving on each other and then run whatever errands are easiest to do with just one kid in tow.

On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, I've got both of my boys all day long - just the way I like it.

I've found that it is best to get up and get going and get out of the house around 10. On Mondays, we go to Lane's gym class. On Wednesdays, I go to my favorite class at the gym and the boys go to the childcare room to play with their friends. On Fridays, we might go back to the gym or meet up with some friends for playtime.

Evan's still taking his morning nap. Since I follow the parenting philosophy that each child is different so just listen to your kid and do what works for him, Evan will continue to take a morning nap for as long as he needs his nap and will go to sleep.

The time Evan goes down depends on a few different things: how well he slept the night before, how early he got up that morning, and how active he's been since he got up.

So, that usually means we have some time between breakfast and nap to play. Lately, I've been asking Lane to help me straighten up the breakfast mess and to help make his bed. After those chores are done, he's free to make as much noise as he wishes until Evan gets tired.


In a momentary lapse of sanity, I bought a music kit for Evan's birthday and a piano for Christmas. Those items, combined with the old xylophone I purchased for Lane at an antique store when he was a babe, can make for some delightful sounds coming from my house each morning.

Since that's the time the boys usually decide to head to Evan's room to make music.

Oh, it is quite lovely. The mixture of Lane's singing with Evan's ooohing with a little tambourine and piano mixed in. One kid will be shaking the maracas while the other bangs the symbols together.



I'm pretty sure it is a sound only a mother could love.

Good thing our new neighbors are old enough to require hearing aids.

Hopefully, they don't turn them on until after 10 am.

This too shall pass.

Just when I think I can't take any more of the three-year-old sass, Lane will show me his charming side, and I'll realize that yes, we both might make it to see his fourth birthday.

I'm finding that three is such an interesting age. It is an age full of discovery and learning. Full of questions and figuring out the answers on his own. Full of language and experimentation.

Full of accomplishment and frustration.

For both of us.

Daily, I'm amazed at how smart my boy is. How capable he is of doing things on his, like tracing his name and putting together a puzzle.

At the same time, daily, I am frustrated at how smart my boy is. There's a certain amount of stubborn that showed up shortly after his third birthday. I hear it has a lot to do with his age.

I think a lot of it just has to do with who Lane is.




Last week, he insisted he take his nap on the couch. Somethings are worth the fight. Others aren't. I let him sleep there and used it as an excuse to do nothing during nap time. I just went up to my room and occupied myself.

He hasn't asked again. I think he was full of curiosity since he found me asleep on the couch one morning after a long night of Evan not feeling well. I think he wanted to test the couch sleeping waters and when I replied no at first he pushed back in retaliation.

The boy has a strong head on those little shoulders.

We've finally mastered the potty. It took THREE LONG weeks for Lane to be totally comfortable with doing his business on the toilet but he finally got it. On his own terms.

Some days, he would go without a fight. Some days, he would fight me all day long. Some days, he would just hold it.

The days he didn't go made for a very grumpy boy. And mama.

A good friend sent a text to check in on me - knowing I was having a hard time - she reminded me that this time is so temporary and that it too shall pass.

In so many different ways.

True to her word, it passed. When his parents stopped pushing and let Lane figure it out on his own, Lane mastered the potty just. like. that. He's an old pro now. I already feel as if he's been going on his own forever.

This weekend, James and I were talking about Evan's speech development. We were trying to remember all the words Lane knew by the time he was one. James replied that he just couldn't remember a time when Lane didn't talk.

That's so true. If I have said it once, I've said it 100 times. Life moves fast when you have children.

I'm trying to remember that at the moments Lane acts his worst. I'm trying to slow down and let him dress himself. Or march myself, Evan and Lane back in the house because Lane wanted to be the line leader. Or pour the cereal back in the box because Lane wanted to pour it himself. Or put him back in his car seat because he wanted to get out himself.

Lane's anything but submissive. He puts up a fight. He's full of sass and spunk. For some, that might not be considered perfect.

I wouldn't have it any other way. While at times, our personalities clash, I realize that all that spunk and sass and perfectionist traits will one day lead to big things for my little boy.


The big things of the future start with the little tasks of today - in which I remind myself, this too shall pass.




I just hope it doesn't pass too quickly.