Today's Eli Quote
Ok, today's best Eli quote is pretty funny:
"Make me a pancake or I'll destroy you."
(Yeah, I think he's been watching Star Wars too much. Blame Josh.)
But despite the supreme chuckle-factor of this particular quote, it's also a symptom of a larger problem: the kid has been getting mouthy and defiant like you wouldn't believe. Everything is becoming a battleground, especially mundane things like getting dressed or what's for dinner. Josh and I are finding ourselves struggling for a workable way of disciplining an increasingly bratty kid who doesn't listen, doesn't seem to care about consequences ("I like time outs" is another classic quote from the last few days), and has his own agenda that he fully intends to stick to without compromise. It's like the terrible twos all over again, but with a smarter, more verbal kid. Is this a consequence of his new baby brother? Or just an age-appropriate limit-testing? I truly can't tell. But it's getting exhausting.
On the other hand, I just had the sweetest, easiest hour of bedtime routine with Eli that I've had in a long time. (I took advantage of an unusually long Isaac nap that lasted from dinnertime through bedtime--hooray!) We had a perfectly lovely, fun, chatty bathtime, then I brushed and flossed his teeth without a single problem (of course it probably helped that I pretended he was a frog the whole time), got him into his jammies, and even cut his finger- and toenails without complaint. I read him a story, had lots of hugs and kisses, and left--and he didn't get up once to say he was scared of the dark or needed to tell us something or wanted a drink. Go figure. Is it that he really wanted the mama-time? Or did I just luck out? I don't know. But a day that started with arguing over what was for breakfast and how much of it he was willing to eat ended with "I love you, Mama," so I guess it was worth it.
So nice to hear you're getting more sleep and that a routine might be emerging. I bet the stuff with Eli is a combination of missing your undivided attention and just a developmental stage. But you're doing all the right things, I'm sure. Hang in there!
TOTAL age-appropriate snottiness. We've been through/are going through the same thing with Max. We switched from time-outs to the loss of a privilege, to which he usually responds, "I didn't want a cookie (or whatever) anyway." Four is DEFINILITY two with words. What's also sort of amazing to watch is the backbends the kid will do to blame his behavior on someone else. He fell and scraped his elbow in the park on Saturday, and it was all Jakob's fault because Max was runnig to catch up with him. He sat on my lap while we watch Marry Poppins, and somehow I "made" him forget that he'd promised to sit with Daddy for part of the movie as well and it was "all your fault Mommy!" Kids! They're lucky they are so cute. Or as John says, "It's wrong to spank them why???"