The Blessing

So...Wyatt has asked all week to be the one to say grace at suppertime.

He regularly thanks Jesus for "baby Zane" and for "my brother Colty." He is also thankful for his food (we've had fries with the meal all week.)

Tonight, he put in his first prayer request. He said, "Jesus, please help me to stay in my own bed tonight."

Mom and Daddy are praying for the same thing.

In The Closet

So...it's mid afternoon and Wyatt is eager to go to the pool.

"Can I wake up Colty?" he asks.

I send him upstairs. A few minutes later he yells, "He's not in my bed or his bed."

"Did you check Mommy's room, or Zane's room?" I ask.

Silence. "He's not in there."

I'm not really panicked, because the baby gate is up and all of the doors appear to be locked and closed. But I enlist Joe's help.

The three of us are in full on search mode.

Joe and Wyatt find him. He has shut himself inside the baby's closet. The light is on, the door is closed and he is asleep face down on the floor."

That boy never fails to amaze me.

Just Deal With It

So the big boys are being demanding. They NEED to have snacks, they NEED to have drinks, they NEED to be tickled, they NEED to have their shoes put on for them, etc.

The baby is crying. Daddy puts them on hold.

I come in and pick up Zane.

Wyatt says to Joe, "Mommy is dealing with the baby. Now you can deal with us."

Sound the Sirens

So...Colt is having a bedtime emergency.

Joe finds him wandering the halls.

He asks him, "Why aren't you in your bed?

Through tears he tells Joe, "Daddy, find reer reer."

Joe is totally confused until he follows Colt into the toy room and watches him pick up his two fire trucks.

Reer reer, you know, the sound a siren makes?

Cuddle Bug

So Wyatt has re-entered the phase where he likes to come and sleep in our bed in the middle of the night.

I asked him at bedtime, "Why do need to come into Mommy and Daddy's bed, why aren't you staying in your room?"

He looks at me very seriously and says, "Colty doesn't cuddle with me anymore."

To make him feel better I say, "Maybe when Zane is bigger he can share a room with you and he can cuddle you."

Wyatt frowns. With that same pessimism he says,"When Colty got this big he wouldn't cuddle. I don't think Zane will want to either."

My sweet tender hearted boy.

The Potty Trainer

So...Wyatt has taken it upon himself to lead Colt's potty training.

He routinely says, "Colty, do you have to pee or poop? I do. Let's go."

He also dispenses the reward m&ms. He told Joe he has a system. One M if Colt pees. Two Ms if he has "lots of pee."

This morning he says, "Daddy, Colty had lots of pee. But there were only two Ms left in the jar...and I peed too."

Apparently the potty trainer needs rewards too.

Bedtime Linebacker

So as my two older boys develop their own unique personalities, I am reminded on a daily basis how radically different they are.

At bedtime, I'm reading them a story and Wyatt keeps playing with my hair and rubbing his face on my arm.

I ask, "What are you doing?"

He says, "I'm nuzzling."

Minutes later I ask Colt for a nite nite hug. He charges me from across the room and tackles me like Brian Urlacher taking down an unlucky QB.

I ask for a kiss and he bites my ear like Tyson on Holyfield.

I guess two nuzzlers in one family is too to ask for.

Adult Swim

So we are at the pool and the lifeguard blows the whistle. Adult swim.

Wyatt is not pleased he has to get out.

He asks, "When will I be an adult?"

"Not for a long time," I say.

"When I'm four?" he replies.

The Lil' Superhero

So...I got Z a Batman onesie to match his brothers.

Wyatt says, "Zaner looks good in his Batman shirt."

I agree. I say, "Would Mommy look good in one?"

Wyatt looks at me very seriously and says, "No, Mommy, you are not brave enough to fight bad guys."

So let me get this straight, my three month old is a superhero and I'm a wimp. Yikes, I need a PR firm to remake my image.

Unlucky Charms

So I went upstairs to change Zane's diaper this morning. I came back down to find Colt's cereal bowl empty.

I said to Wyatt, "Hey look, Colty ate all of his Lucky Charms."

Wyatt says, "It's in his backpack."

"What's in his backpack?"

"His cereal. I dumped it in there."

I found Colt in the TV room, eating his breakfast out of his Bob the Builder backpack.

I'm still shakin' my head over this one.

Babysitter

So I ask Wyatt to give Zane his bottle while I use the restroom.

I step out to find Baby Jaguar doing the babysitting. The bottle is propped on his back, snuggled between the head and the tail.

Irresponsible, but ingenious.

Besties

So Wyatt says to me, "Colty is my best friend."

I reply, "He's fun to play with isn't he."

A few minutes later I find the BFFs in their room, sitting on a fort made of pillows, sucking on popsicles they snuck out of the freezer.

They're gonna be trouble.

Baby Monitor

So who needs one of those fancy audio/video baby monitors?

Not when you have a three-year-old who's who's obsessed with "checking on" his new brother.

Every morning Wyatt yells to me or Joe, "Zaney is awake. I hear baby crying."

He runs to the nursery and peeks in the crib. He tells Zane, in a soft, comforting voice, "It's ok baby, you're ok."

Listening Too Well

So I hear Wyatt yell from the bathroom, "Mommy, my pants are wet."

I walk in to find him waist deep in his bath water. Colt is next to him, equally drenched, equally amused.

I step out to avoid laughing.

When I told them, "Get in the tub, right now"...I did not mean fully clothed.

Next time I'll be more clear.