More blessed moments

In addition to the last post, I'm thankful for a few more nice moments this week with Tobey. There have been so many challenges with him in recent weeks and months, with Tom and I really working on our disciplining strategy, that nice moments sometimes seem few and far between.

It was fun to take Tobey to feed Cameron, Pora's turtle (and God had mercy on me as I forgot to go feed the turtle Monday because Tobey was sick but the turtle was still alive Tuesday). Tobey loved playing with Dan's toys while Dan was gone and popping in to see the turtle as I fed him.

Wednesday, I splurged (both financially and emotionally) by letting Tobey go on the jump houses while we were at the pumpkin patch yesterday getting pumpkins for MTO. At $8/30 min. to play, I was sticker shocked but I also would have loved to see a big smile on Tobey's face jumping around so I gave in to the idea. I was disappointed for him when the rain started falling just as he was about to start playing but equally happy for him when it stopped. He and Eli (who I bargained to be let in for free) had free reign over all 3 jump houses because no one else was there. They played together in the pirate ship, jumped around in the castle with the little slide, but the big deal of the day was the HUGE slide that must have been 2 stories high.

Tobey himself wanted to try it and since going down with a parent was against the safety rules, I let him climb up himself. He climbed up what seemed like 30 steps to the top and with no fear and no hesitation, waving to me as he neared the top, coming down the huge slide himself. I was so proud, even if there weren't any other parents around to witness it. He went up a few more times, for some reason sliding down faster and faster. The only thing better was that there was no whining and no complaints when the rain started falling or when our time was up and it was time to go. An $8 well spent and his smile of joy and accomplishment that's priceless.

I feel bad that I don't have as many nice moments to report right now with Eli. I feel like he's been a little clingy and fussy lately, especially at mealtime, leaving me a little stressed each time as to what he'll eat or not eat (we were so spoiled by Tobey's stellar eating habits) and me being less than sympathetic to his cries and tantrums. I hope it's not like I can only really enjoy one kid at a time and never both at the same time. I hope this is just a phase Eli's going through.