So, while I’d love to have some witty, engaging story-arch that brings everyone briskly along from the point of Isaac’s birth right up to where we are now, alas I don’t. What I do have are a couple of glimpses as to what life is like for us now, living with a three month old and a (nearly) three year old.

It’s busy. I don’t know why in the world we ever thought that life with a single, immobile, nonverbal infant was challenging… but boy, what were we thinking? I have a hard time imagining how parents with more than 2 kids do this. I mean, honestly, intentionally outnumbering yourselves?!? That’s just asking for trouble.

I’ve particularly enjoyed the time that I’ve spent with Joel these last few months. For better or worse, I’ve kind of “taken the lead” in parenting him since Isaac has come into our lives. Part of that is circumstantial… Sarah is breast-feeding and Isaac just needs more attention from her. It won’t always be that way but right now it is. Joel and I have shared a few fun, special days together recently and for that I am very thankful.

Isaac is amazing. So familiar, so similar and yet definitely unique. Generally speaking, this kid is a happy kid. He’s already taken to smiling and cooing at us (which I suppose is pretty normal for a three month old). We’ve noticed that he’s a lot easier to calm than Joel seemed at this age. If he’s crying it means he’s either hungry, tired or needs changing. Period. I know that’s what people say about all babies but I distinctly remember evenings with Joel where he just seemed to wail for hours on end for no apparent reason and no amount of rocking, nursing, soothing or coercing would convince him to do otherwise.

We’ll see how it plays out when they’re both teenagers.

So now, here we are at present day. Overlooking the glaring absence of the last several month’s worth of blog posts we press on, into the future.

And for no good reason here are some EXTEME CLOSE-UPS!!!!!

WHOAAAAHH!!!

Joel Extreme Closeup

Isaac Extreme Closeup

Scene 1 – Mommy, in the kitchen fixing breakfast for herself while Joel eats his oatmeal in his high chair in the adjacent dining room

Joel: “I would like some juice please.”
(Mom hears him but is finishing up making her latte)
Joel: (a little bit louder) “I would like some juice Pleeeese!”
Mom: “OK”
Joel: (almost at the top of his lungs) “I would like some juice PLEEEESE with Alfie!!! Does ANYBODY WORK HERE!?”

Scene 2 – Mommy haphazardly trying to change Joel’s diaper as he squirms and kicks. Mommy is über pregnant and feeling quite frazzled. Joel all the sudden settles down and looks into Mommy’s eyes

Joel: “Mommy, would you like to be organized?”

Scene 3 – As the baby gets bigger Mommy’s pregnancy shirts are getting shorter and shorter and now apparently too short to wear at all

Joel: “Momma, Your bellybutton is hangin’ out.”

Scene 4 – Twice a month Mommy and Joel go to MOPs and Joel has had quite a hard time going into the nursery. He kicks and screams and has major separation anxiety. For the last month he has been doing much better and stops crying and starts playing after Mommy leaves the room. Mommy always makes a big deal out of the fact that Joel had fun when she comes back to pick him up. As they walk out of the church together and down the steps he looks up at Mommy

Joel: “Mommy will say… ‘Did you have fun at MOPs?’”
Mom: “Did you have fun at MOPs?”
Joel: “Yeah.”
Joel: “Mommy will say… ‘See that’s not so bad.’”
Mom: “So you are listening to me!”

Scene 5 – Aunt Charissa, tucking Joel in and saying bedtime prayers with him

Charissa: “What would you like to thank Jesus for tonight?”
Joel: “Umm…Wii Fit.”

Scene 6 – Mommy and Joel are still reading Christmas Story and Santa Claus books even though Christmas is long over. Joel likes to role play pretending he is someone or something else. Here he is convinced that he is Baby Jesus

Joel: “I am Baby Jesus, and Mommy is Mary.”
Mom: “Then who is in Mommy’s belly?”
Joel: (pointing to Mommy’s belly) “The THREE WISE MEN!”
Joel: (pointing to Mommy’s breasts) “And the HORSES!”

Mom: “Where does Jesus live?”
Joel: “Beth-la-JAM!”

Mom: Do you know who’s birthday is on Christmas?
Joel: “Santa Claus!”

Mom: “Who did the shepherds go to see?”
Joel: “Charlie Brown”

Scene 7 – Joel playing with his Thomas the Train Helicopter ‘Harold’, hovering over Mommy’s belly

Mom: “Are you showing your baby brother your Harold the Helicopter?
Joel: “Yes” (sliding Harold across Mommy’s belly)
Mom: “Do you think your baby brother will like to play with Harold?”
Joel: (wide eyed) “NO! THE BABY WILL WANT SOME MILK AND THEN LAY DOWN.”

Scene 8 – After putting Joel to bed Mommy hears a crash and then Joel shouts “OH NO!” Mommy rushes upstairs

Mom: “Honey, what happened?”
Joel: (with ridiculous fake sobbing) “Diesel FELL!”
Mom: “Ok, Mommy will get him, here you go.”
Joel: (stops sobbing and looks at Mommy with disbelief) “WHEW! WELL THAT WAS EASY.”

Scene 9 – Another too short pregnancy shirt worn around the house moment

Joel: (tugging the shirt over Mommy’s belly) “I will close the baby and the baby will go to sleep.”

Scene 10 – After Daddy shaved off a beard he wore for a several weeks

Dad: “Joel, What happened to Daddy’s face?”
Joel: “It is fixed!”
Joel: (rubbing Daddy’s freshly shorn head) “Your hair is soooo pretty!”

Scene 10.5 – After Mommy visited the Salon and paid a lot of money to get her hair cut & colored

Dad: “Ooh Joel, Look at Mommy and her pretty hair!”
Mom: “Hi Joel, Do you like my hair?”
Joel: (silence)
Mom: “Don’t you think it smells nice?”
Joel: (silence)
Dad: “Joel, isn’t it pretty?”
Joel: (looking away and very uninterested) “uh yeah”

Scene 11 – Another bedtime prayer moment

Mom: “What would you like to thank Jesus for tonight?’
Joel: “Ummm.. crackers and tractors, that’s all.”

Scene 12 – Since Joel’s Birthday he is convinced that any day can be his birthday

Joel: “It is my Birthday. We will have CAKE! With candles.. and I will BLOW THEM UP.”
Joel: “Mommy, I want to go downstairs and it will be my birthday, and I will have lots of gifts.”
Mom: “Honey, today is not your birthday. I’m sorry. We do not have gifts today.”
Joel: “Ummm, I will go downstairs just to check.”

Joel recently has taken to saying “I don’t like” insert-thing-here. Usually it is something he DOES in fact like but we’re not letting have / play with / do. In other cases I think he’s just trying to express his disappointment with the current situation. For instance, yesterday morning I was walking out the door to go to work, which provoked a flurry of disappointed cries and wails from the boy. I say, “OK, Daddy is going to work now. Bye” and he’s all, “NO! I don’t like Daddy!”

Clearly that’s not what he means (at least I hope not).

On the other side of the spectrum there are times like this morning. Joel slept well and, although awake, stayed contentedly quiet in his bed until after 9:00. (Pause here while I thank the Lord for Joel’s sleeping habits and pray fervently that his little brother is as merciful) I roll out of bed to go get him and he looks up at me and says, “Daddy will get Alfie and some milk”. “OK honey,” I reply. As I’m carrying him over to our bed he snuggles into my shoulder and murmurs “I am very happy.”

I’m just going to take him at his word on that one.

So the other day when were were making the best of our “Sunday at the pool” time, there were a few other parents and kids stuck out there with us. One particular mother was getting after her boy because he wanted to take off his coat and ride it down the slide (so as not to get his pants wet I’m pretty sure). Maybe she was a little more perturbed than the rest of us by not getting in under the occupancy limit or she may have just been a little shorter tempered person or her kids had been driving her crazy all morning before they even got there… I dunno. Suffice it to say she was being a little snippy with her kids. She’s all, “You put that coat back on right now! We’re on a trip and I can’t be doing 14 loads of laundry today!”

Joel, without even blinking looks right at me and says, cheerfully: “They’re on a trip!”
Me: “That’s right”
Joel, in the same cheerful tone: “And the mommy doesn’t like laundry!”

Now I know she must have heard him, but I couldn’t bring myself to glance over and see what kind of look she was probably giving me. I just picked Joel up and said, “Let’s go play on this other slide over here.”

“Yeah!” he responded.

Me: Joel, do you think there will be enough room for mommy & daddy AND Joel AND the baby in mommy & daddy’s bed?
Joel: Um… no…
Me: Should mommy and daddy get a bigger bed?
Joel: (shaking his head) No!
Me: Joel, when your baby brother comes will we be able to SHARE mommy and daddy with the baby?
Joel: (more emphatically) NO!

I don’t know how fair some of these questions are for him, since the reality of having a little brother is probably still slightly outside of his realm of comprehension, but it is telling. Having another one changes the game for everyone. I’ve really enjoyed these last couple years of learning what it’s like to be a parent and Joel has been a great teacher. It’s hard to know what life will be like with another one around… and yet like my Mom would always say, “You can’t imagine loving another one as much as you love the first… but then the second one comes and there’s just more love. You don’t love the first one any less, there’s just more.”