Writing reminds me of exercising. The longer you wait between workouts, the harder it is to get motivated. I can't even believe how many funny things have transpired since my last entry. Winter has come and gone, Lucy's first year of preschool is almost over and birthdays whizzed by in the blur that has become May. Josh is now two years old, he has an official "boy" haircut and is talking up a storm. Lucy is four and watching the world around her with a new wonder and excitement. Josh and Lucy are playing together now more than ever. Josh worships Lucy and she revels in his adoration. Josh has an inherent sense of silly that I witnessed when he was just a teeny little infant in his baby bucket. I will never forget the day I saw Josh's capacity for just plain silliness.
One morning when Josh was probably no more than three months old I took the kids to the library. I was tired, short-tempered and doing my best to meet the needs of an infant and a two-year-old. We had stopped at the cafe at the library for a snack and as I was cutting a bagel and opening a straw with one hand for Lucy while at the same time absent mindedly waving a rattle with a bell in Josh's face. I really was hardly aware of my actions beyond pure motor function - cutting, waving - all physical acts of my appendages meant for the least amount of meltdowns in a confined area. Before I knew it, I heard huge, jolly giggles coming from my little guy. Josh was cracking up at the rattle like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. I've seen babies coo and smile at baby toys before but I had never seen such a guttural reaction from such a small baby. It was at that moment I knew that my little Joshua was going to have a great capacity for silly. It stands true today at two years old, Josh is a yuck-it up, belly-laughing silly little boy, and the one whom elicits the most shoulder-shaking, belly giggles is Lucy. Lucy will just be going about the business of being a nudge when something will strike Josh as silly. This could be anything from a purposeful attempt to make Josh laugh to putting her fork on her dinner plate in a way that Josh thinks it is the funniest thing he has ever seen. In these instances, big sister is more than happy to indulge her little brother's laughter and repeat the action until Josh's belly is roaring with laughter.
It seems like just yesterday Lucy and her little school friends would sit on the swings, legs dangling innocently pleading for a push. Lucy can get onto the swings now, start herself swinging and pump as high as the sky. She is a fully self-sufficient swinger now. It is awesome. Now Lucy is now four and peppers her sentences with words like germinate and gravity. My little girl is like a sponge just absorbing the world around her. She is curious and the things that pique her interest always fascinate me. The other night she was obsessed with poison ivy and I told her the saying, "leaves of three - let them be." She talked about poison ivy and hounded me with questions for hours on end. I lulled my little sweetie to sleep that night with soothing stories about Michael getting poison ivy so badly his face swelled up and about the time I was little and got bad poison ivy retrieving a frisbee deep in the woods. I am almost certain I have never had a more captive audience hanging on my every word. Lucy is endlessly patient with Josh throughout his several month stint of temper tantrums the likes of which I have only witnessed a couple of times before Josh. She does her best to calm Josh down, using a motherly voice telling him, "it's okay little buddy," and scampering off to find his wubbys. As for the temperament of a four-year-old girl, well I am finding that they cry quite a bit - almost as much as seventh grade girls. Tears emerge out of thin air and my little girl is a thunderstorm of emotion that no words can tame. In these instances I have come to rely on my, "and don't forget - no smiling, no laughing is allowed because you are mad." This usually gets the smirk that tells me we can salvage the situation. Other times my attempts at humorous distraction just piss her off more.
In an attempt to catch up on some of the funniest of the little Svirsky's quips - I'll do the down and dirty and just list some of the prime quotes so they are not forgotten forever in the blur that is the beauty of parenting.
- Josh couldn't say Lucy for a long time, so probably at the beginning of winter Lucy became Wee Wee. He'd call after her, "Wee Wee" with a desperation in his voice as he'd struggle to catch up with his big sister.
- One morning Lucy looked at me all sleepy and content as I brought her a morning milk, "you know Mom you kind of work for me," she said. Yep, sure do I guess.
- For a while when I would tuck Lucy and Josh in for their naps (which they both still take - praise (insert your God/Goddess here) they would yell back and forth from each other's rooms, "I love you Wee Wee" and "I love you Josh." This would repeat at an alarming volume for up to ten minutes. It was a loud and very sweet proclamation of their love.
- Lucy was eating her tacos the other night, which have become a favorite and she looked at me with the most serious face and said, referring to her taco, "this is really working out great for me Mom."
- Now when Josh wants a bottle he politely asks for, "fresh bubba please." Yes, he is still on the bottle - I think I am not yet ready to let go of seeing my baby as a baby. Please don't tell my pediatrician.
- At the playground Lucy was pushing Josh in the baby swing and being goofy and making him do the big belly laughs. He was laughing so hard he could barely talk, but he was doing his best to point at himself and say, "Lucy crack up me." It was one of those times when you say to yourself as a parent, this is why the madness is worth it.
I'm sure there are so many more things that I will remember, and hopefully go back to include in my blog. For now I can already tell that the magic pixie dust that is sprinkled among parents to remember mostly the things that make us smile and laugh is working. The winter was long, there were many tantrums. I remember one tantrum of Josh's that literally lasted thirty minutes. He cried, yelled, pulled baskets of toys onto himself and crawled headfirst into walls and radiators because he was so mad. The reason, I would not allow him to throw his entire bowl of snack across the room. There were many days that I gave into outrageous demands just to head-off a tantrum episode. He wore pajamas - a lot. In the end it was a phase that seems to be tapering off. I recall one visit to the pediatrician asking him to define how long a "phase" is just getting that knowing smile that told me someday this won't seem bad. I don't even remember where I heard this first, but it is so true: The days can be long, but the years fly. That's how I feel right now and I am doing my best to be present and positive and relish in the fact that I am fortunate enough to be right here, right now.
Happy Birthday Lucy and Joshua.
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