So, a whole year with Daddy away can be neatly summed up by a card sent to us ~ On the front of the card it reads: "One day you'll look back on this and say..." and you open it to find: "Well, that sucked!" And it did. We all missed him so dreadfully, and he was so very lonely for his family. But, we are proud of him and what he does to support his brothers and sisters in arms. Our sacrifices seem small when compared to so many - but on their own, they still feel huge. But, HE IS HOME. And we are readjusting nicely, thank you. He occasionally has to say, "I'm here now..." so I will stop trying to do absolutely everything on my own. It's pretty cute.
So, BB is almost four and a half and so very interesting. Some moments he is belligerent in his independence and others he (in his words this week) "always just want to be beside you, Mommy." He had his first soccer practice yesterday, which was pretty hilarious. It was slightly less chaotic than I anticipated, but then, not everyone was there. BB had a good time kicking the ball and wearing his new shin guards. LB stood on the "sidelines" (a bit of a misnomer, since they didn't actually really play on the field so much as kick the ball around randomly in the vicinity of where we were supposed to be) happily munching from his snack cup and squirting his juice box everywhere. He picked up a few errant soccer balls and brought them back to us, but was otherwise happy to just sort of chill. I do wonder about actual games, and keeping him out of the fray when he gets that BB will be allowed to play with the ball and he is supposed to sit it out. We shall see. They frequently surprise me. LB has started really using more and more words, and some short sentences. He kicked me during a diaper change and immediately said what sounded like "sossy mommy." His favorite friend is "raffe" - as in giraffe. He knows most of the body parts, and like most toddlers, delights in poking you in the eye or the belly button with great force as he tells you the words for those parts of the anatomy. He is still a super finicky eater, and some days I despair of getting him to eat real food. He went through a phase where he ate Vienna Sausages - hardly a real nutritional win, but protein, at least. Then, out of the blue, throws them at you. Daddy said to him, "Buddy, it makes me sad to even buy these, but it makes me even sadder to have to throw them away." Both of these boys have established a stubborn, opinionated streak that make me think they may have been switched in hospital, since no one in our family is like that at all.
This has been a full and challenging year and now first quarter of 2012. To everyone who said, "Cherish these moments, they go by so fast..." I get it. You were all right. It is impossible that LB is almost two and that BB is getting ready to play (however loosely) a team sport. Where did my babies go?
We now drive a minivan. Which, sadly, I adore. It's awesome. We call it the Batmobile, and it now has cool bat-logo stickers on it. I envision stealing Adam West's line for many years to come as I tell the family, "To the Batmobile!" Whatever works, right? It's way cooler than admitting to the minivan thing.
We are oh-so-very well, and I will (try not to laugh here) endeavor to post more than three or four times this year.
Peace out.
