Kid Lottery

Andrew and I must be the luckiest parents in the world. In my opinion, we totally won the kid lottery, getting two of the best little boys we could ask for. I just wanted to take a few moments and reflect on some of the things about these two little men that make my cup runneth over!

1. Brotherly Love: Josh and Ben love each other so much. Josh is so patient with Ben, and really takes his responsibility of being a big brother very seriously. Ben wants to do everything Josh does, and loves getting his brother's hugs and kisses. It's so sweet to see Ben light up when he knows hugs or kisses are coming from big brother, and lean in for them. I know they'll go through sibling rivalry and will definitely argue and fight, but I hope that this bond between them stays strong.

2. Potty Training: I can only attest to this one with Josh, but we got off way too easy with this one. As friends were going through potty training nightmares with their 3 year olds, with regressions and loss of interest, Josh went for the potty at 27 months old and never looked back. I'm not fooling myself to think that we had much to do with that. He was just a superstar. I am also not naive enough to think it will be that easy second time around, but we can hope! =)

3. Sweet Nothings: Josh is such a sweet affectionate little guy. He will spontaneously decide that Mommy or Daddy need a kiss or and a hug and makes sure that need does not go unmet. He has so much love in his heart, and has one of the sweetest spirits I have ever known. Ben is our little cuddle bug. I hope he never gets too big to cuddle with Mommy on the couch!

4. Do as I Say: Josh is so good at following directions. We have some pretty high expectations of him, but he usually meets them, and a lot of times surprises us with even more. In the evenings, all we have to tell him is that dinner is ready, and he will turn off the TV and come in and sit down. Of course he will balk at us from time to time, but will usually end up making he right choice. We have relatively few tantrums from him, and I can't even remember the last time he had to sit in the corner. I don't even remember having to threaten the corner lately. Ben is really starting to show increased understanding of what we say to him, and is starting to follow simple directions. We hope that Josh will be a great example for his little brother and will help in teaching him to make good choices.

5. Transition, Shramsition: Both of these boys just roll with the punches. Everything we have asked of them, they have totally delivered. Josh went through lots of transitions between 1 and 2 with moving, changing bedrooms, going into a big boy bed, becoming a big brother, potty training... and he has done it all without any problems. I have spoken with friends who have not had it so easy with these types of things, and am very thankful for how easy these things have been for us. Ben is such an easy going guy. As long as he's got a full tummy (which is getting to be a difficult task!) he's good to go and can handle just about any situation he is thrown into.

Okay, I guess that's enough mushy gushing over my kids. It's just nice to have posts like this to look back at every once in a while, especially on those frustrating days when it's easy to forget that the bad days are few in the grand scheme of things.