Last night on the way into church, this is the conversation that I heard between Grady and Hadley ->
Grady (age 4 in Jan.): Hadley, you wanna get married?
Hadley (age 3 in Feb.): Um, sure...when we get home. Thank you Grady.
Grady: You're welcome.
Hilarious. They are always "getting married." As far as I can tell, that only means that she puts on her Cinderella dress and they act very sweet to each other. Hadley is the most respected lady at these times...smiling sweetly, saying thank you, being led around by Grady, etc. Grady takes care of Hadley to a tee at these times...holding her hand and helping her up to sit on the couch (or wherever), bringing her books to read, etc. (Daddy has obviously been an excellent role model in how to treat a wife). They will even ride around on Grady's stick horse together. Really, really cute. The house is so full of peace when the older 2 siblings are "married." :)
They really are growing up in so many ways. It's amazing that it does get so much easier over time. I mean, when we had 3 in diapers and had to dress and feed and bathe all of them practically...that was a bit harder. There are so many little details that go into taking care of small children that sometimes you don't really think about...the things I just mentioned plus things like cutting their nails (we have to do it every week...for all 3...guess we'll be adding a 4th to the mix soon), doing the girls' hair, etc. It's sad to see them growing up and doing things on their own that they used to need you for...but, at the same time, nice too.
Yesterday I had to go to 3 different stores trying to find something (another post entirely). I asked Grady and Hadley to go with me. What a difference it has become to take them places. They can now get into the car and buckle themselves up without any help. I don't have to get them out of the car anymore...they can do that all on their own. I don't have to carry them or make sure they are with me every step of the way...they know to stay with me in the stores and they do. They even carry things for me and we shop together.
On the homefront, Grady is now pretty self-sufficient in the shower area...Daddy has just about finished training him to do it all on his own. Neither Grady or Hadley need help at potty time...they do it all themselves. They both can get dressed on their own...that is, when it's just daily wear (shorts and shirt...as long as I remember to have things out for them...they can even get stuff out of their closets, but I just have to have stuff out of the laundry and in their closets for them...ha ha ha)...they still have to have help with church type stuff. They bring me stuff galore and help with Eissa (age 17 months) already a ton. If Eissa is done with her nap or done sleeping in the morning, Grady can even get her out of her crib for us. He's actually been doing that for months. It is a low-to-the-ground crib (not like the ones in the states). It's really nice.
This morning before Joel went to work (leaves around 7:45am) Hadley had already woken up and come and gotten in the bed with me. Joel left and I just dozed while Hadley laid there and pushed on my nose and crazy things like that. :) Then, around 9 (Sunday nights are late nights; doesn't usually happen, but sometimes they do sleep a bit longer on Mon. mornings), Grady and Eissa came in and piled in the bed too. Grady had gotten Eissa out of her crib and they both came pitter-pattering in. We all just stayed in the bed for about 15 minutes more (even Eissa)...nice. Then the older 2 went and got themselves dressed while I dressed Eissa and fixed breakfast.
Right now Eissa is sleeping and Grady and Hadley are out in the hammock together (being super sweet even though they aren't "married" right now). They are writing in their handy dandy notebooks together. I'm sure Grady is writing his name over and over (which he has mastered now by the way).
So, yes...kind of sad to see them growing up and not needing me anymore for certain things. Also...kind of nice, esp. since we'll be starting all over again with a new one in the next few days.
Hadley got some 'teeth' in a goodie bag at her Port. class the other day...one of the little boys had a birthday party there. Grady was trying them out.
4 comments:
My brother and I used to plan to get married when we were older! How funny! Although, he wasn't nicer to me just because he said I could marry him. :( That's so cool that Grady knows how to treat a wife. I'll have to throw some hints Johan's way to make sure our boys know it too! (He does a good job treating me with honor and serving me, but I wonder if the boys have noticed it or not? Hmmm.)
That's also great that Grady and Hadley are doing so much for themselves. Corban does a lot too, but his personality hasn't lent itself to initiate doing things by himself unless we tell him repeatedly that he can do it. Without fail, if he does something big on his own, he will try to get others who don't know he can to it to do it for him. What a little manipulator he can be, but he's getting better. Creed wants to do everything Corban can do, so there'll be no problem teaching him these things when he's ready...except the pottying thing. We're tackling that when Summer starts.
I loved the shower surprise and pictures. How wonderful for your "family" there to bless you and Joel in such a way!
You look great at 39 weeks pregnant! I keep hoping to read something about a baby coming sometime this week. (No pressure)
Your kids are so lucky to have one another. I wish I had grown up with my siblings...too bad the effects of divorce robbed me of that. Things will be different with my kiddos, which Gods help.
I have been meaning to tell you that your kids are just beautiful! They ARE!
I'm looking SO forward to seeing the new one....!
How sweet. They are such good buddies. Having kids close in age is cool like that. They are such good friends.
Post a Comment