Jack and George

With our monthly baby Joe updates and his recent hospitalization, Jack and George haven't received as much blog time as they deserve!  Don't let that fool you, though. These two little men dominate most of each day with their enthusiasm, energy and strong wills!

Collectively, these two enjoy many of the same things and play happily together most of the time. They also give me quite a run for my money as I attempt to stay one step ahead of their antics and interests. This is especially true with Josh gone for long stretches and with frigid weather forcing us indoors most of the time.

But we manage to keep busy here at Grandma's!  We set up different things to play with...like our train set complete with cardboard tunnel and Angry Bird Space game on top!  (They played with this one thing for two days straight!)

Or a masking tape city/race track with Hotwheels cars...a never fail activity!

Of course lots of time is spent loving on baby brother!

This winter, we've had the very new experience of having LOTS of snow days!  Jack is all about being out in the snow, decking out in his snow pants/boots/jacket and gloves and helping Grandma shovel the driveway.  We even found little shovels (intended to keep in your car trunk) that are just the right size for the boys!  George is not much of an outside-in-the-cold fellow and only lasts about 5 minutes at a time. 

Jack, on the other hand, can spend HOURS outside getting the job done!

We spent one particularly cold day back at the local children's discovery museum.  It was a great place to spend a few hours and get some energy out. 

The water table display was a particular favorite.

We did some neat hands-on activities this time, too.  Below, the boys are trying to build a Duplo house with one hand covered in an oven mit! 

Georgie is quite a little fellow.  He can be the sweetest, happiest boy...and also the most stubborn.  I remember that age 3 with Jack was very challenging, too.  The combination of Josh being gone, having been sick for so long and having me away for a week in the hospital left George totally out of sorts.  It has been a hard job getting back to some normal discipline and some sort of routine. 

He loves to eat...especially bread.  When left alone for a few minutes, he can often be found sneaking a hamburger bun from Grandma's bread box and hiding to eat it!  He loves to read books and play with his trains, cars and planes and often gives all of these inanimate objects names and personalities, forming elaborate conversations!  He has a very vivid imagination and can play for long stretches of time by himself.  His speech is growing by leaps and bounds...but he gets so frustrated when his words can't keep up with his mind!  Recently, we read two great books on manners from the Way To Be series:  Manners in Public and Manners at the Table.  George just LOVES talking about good and bad manners (as you'll see in the video below)!  He continues to bring lots of joy and laughs to our family and is often kind of pegged as the mischievous one of the bunch.  I'm trying hard to give him a lot of affection and attention, since it is obvious that the role of middle child is a hard one for him to wear.    

A week or so ago, George was finishing a cough drop lollipop as I was running the bath water.  He said, "Mommy, I can't take the lollipop in the bath tub!"  I said, "Sure you can!"  He paused...looked at me...looked at the lollipop and said, "Mommy, you're a genius!"  :-)

My Jack...what a little man he is!  He is always on the move using both his body and his mind to come up with lots of things to do.  I think it frustrates him so much that I can't keep up, especially when Joe is so needy.  This part of mothering multiple kids is the hardest part for me...not being able to be fully there for each one when they really need or want me.  While our more programmatic side of this year's preschool homeschooling has kind of gone by the wayside, we are learning every day.  A favorite thing for Jack to do is read a story or a book about something that interests him and then try to make his own book of folded papers retelling it in his own words.  He loves to draw and write and I think he's finally reached a peak of interest in really learning his letters/sounds so that he can one day read on his own.  He loves all kinds of crafts.  We recently made a finger puppet stage out of a shoe box and several felt finger puppets.  We have library story time each week and he is an avid participant, enthusiastically answering the librarian's questions and doing whatever activity is involved.  He is also in Cubbies at our church's AWANA program.  His teacher tells me that he is so mature and so well-behaved, she feels like he should already be in the older kids' classroom.  He does show a remarkable amount of care and responsibility as the big brother.  But he can be just as stubborn or resistant, too. 

Recently, he has been talking a lot about growing up, getting older, getting married, having me get older, etc.  It seems to worry him.  I do my best to focus his little heart on just being a kid and not worrying too much, but I see so much of myself as a child in him!  I was just the same way!  The other night, he was hugging me as he was getting ready to go to bed.  He told me, "When I grow up and get married, I am going to read lots of books to my kids like you do.  And if I am an uncle, I will read to those kids, too.  But if I have kids...I will miss you....and you will be old."  He started to cry, the sweet little thing.  I told him how much fun I will have as a Grammy for his kids someday and how I will always be his Mommy, no matter what. 

Jack is getting to the point where he really doesn't need an afternoon nap, especially if we've been cooped up all morning with snow outside.  So, I let him have quiet time with books or papers and markers while we are napping.  One day, I came downstairs to find that he had George's Snoopy stuffed animal propped up and he had drawn this: 

I told him that is what a genuine artist does...look at something and try to capture it on paper or a canvas.  He was so excited to think he was a real artist!  Part of his interest in drawing and trying to make books of his own has come from the great children's books we have been reading.  By far, our favorite collection of stories is George and Martha by James Marshall.  If you've never checked these books out for yourself, you simply must.  Those two funny hippo friends have us laughing out loud every time we read the stories! 

Jack and George are so close, I often wonder what the dynamics will be like with poor little Joe in the mix.  Will he be left out?  But it does seem that the older boys just cannot wait for him to be old enough to really play with them! 

Finally...we have to tell you about our new favorite thing to play with:  puppets!  Jake and Sarah sent the boys a Melissa and Doug pirate puppet for Christmas and it was such a hit!  We used a gift card to purchase a stage and several other puppets.  Josh and I are trying to invest only in toys that will really encourage our kids to use their imaginations.  Well, these certainly have fit in with that priority!  The boys can play for hours with these, inventing their own stories and characters.  We thought you might enjoy seeing some of their impromptu "productions" in the videos below!

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