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November 28, 2007
my middle
Big J is in the middle of a fascinating growth spurt. Yesterday for dinner, he ate: a plate of roast beef and vegetables, a plate of leftover enchiladas, two apples (seriously), another plate of enchiladas, and two granola bars. He then left to go to hockey, and came back home and ate another plate of roast beef and vegetables. And complained when I kissed him goodnight that he was hungry.
His body is also in an awkward stage; I cannot find long-sleeved shirts that fit him properly. It's as though his arms are two or three years ahead of the rest of him. If the shirt fits him in the body, the arms are three inches too short. If the shirt fits him in the arms, it hangs nearly to his knees. He's taken to wearing MY hooded sweatshirts, as they fit him in the arms. My son is a gorilla.
I'm trying very hard to not let Big J, the middle child, get lost in the sea of my attention. H is becoming super-independent these days; I don't have to tell her to take a shower or to do her homework anymore. Little J is a bit slow on the independence chart; I still have to get him dressed (and as he's just turned 4, I'm harboring a bit of indignance about this--Big J and H both could dress themselves by now), and he's developed this annoying fear of being in the bathroom by himself, which means everytime he has to go he requires a chaperone. I have to remind myself to remind Big J about his homework and to bathe and stuff like that; he has the tendancy to blend into the chaos of the house because he's soft-spoken and undemanding.
He lost a tooth the other day, and he gave it to me for safekeeping. I stuck it in a ziploc and promptly LOST IT. He was devasted that I could be so thoughtless. The toothfairy left him a note to explain that his mommy was sorry to have been irresponsible and that he shouldn't be angry with her.
She's just got a whole lot going on right now.
Posted by mryonker at November 28, 2007 08:39 PM
Comments
My four-year-old (the oldest, not the youngest) is perfectly capable of getting dressed by herself but mostly refuses to do it without at least company. With her, it seems to largely be an attention issue. Her younger sister is 18 months, which might account for this a bit. She also periodically demands bathroom company, and hasn't yet admitted that she's perfectly capable of wiping her own butt adequately.
All of which is to say, it's just *four*, isn't it?
Posted by: dr at November 28, 2007 11:27 PM
I think for Little J it's definitely an attention issue--both the bathroom and getting dressed thing. He's acutely aware when I am NOT paying attention to him, and is creating moments where my attention is automatically built-in.
And what I feel like I need to do is somehow build my attention into some of Big J's moments. And it's especially hard now because my attention is stretched so thinly.
Posted by: madeline at November 28, 2007 11:39 PM
It was so nice of the tooth fairy to take time out of his/her busy schedule to help you in this way. And you should save that note for Little J, because someday you and he will find it very very funny.
BTW, I developed an irrational fear of being in the bathroom alone, but I think it had more to do with an overactive imagination. And because it just isn't done in my family to ask for help or reassurance, I would run out of the bathroom at top speed after completing my business. Of course, I also developed an irrational fear of the attic door, in the hallway ceiling, which meant leaping from the bathroom and clearing the hall in one leap.
Just Friday night I thought I might have seen zombies in the basement.
Posted by: susansinclair at December 2, 2007 08:32 PM