Celebrating Differences

I know I've previously mentioned how different Moses is from the twins, but sometimes they're so different that it's hard to believe they're even related. And I'm not even talking about their physical appearances.

First off, Moses craves fruits and veggies, while the twins crave carbs. Last night I made oven-fried chicken, broccoli, rice, and corn on the cob for dinner. Joshua ate his meal in the following order: Rice, chicken, corn, broccoli. Moses ate his meal in the exact opposite order: broccoli, corn, chicken, rice. Then, Moses of course asked for second and third helpings of broccoli and corn.

The twins never expressed much interest in playing team sports and are only participating in their T-Ball league because I made the executive decision to sign them up without asking their opinion on the matter. The hope that they will get something tasty to eat afterwards is the light at the end of their T-Ball tunnel, and they tend to run faster to the car after their games than they do around the bases. In fact, Caleb refused to participate in their first game of the season, and instead sat on the sidelines crying and moping. The consequence of his behavior was that he stayed at home with me and ate salad for dinner while Joe took Joshua and Moses to Roy Roger's after the game. Needless to say, he has been participating in the games ever since then. I suspect that Moses will never need such coercion, as he regularly practices "hustling" around imaginary bases and hitting balls with his big foam bat. To the twins' credit, now that they've gotten the hang of the basic rules of the game, their game play has markedly improved. Joshua still moves more like a tortoise than a hare when he's rounding the bases, but who knows, maybe that's because there are no "outs" in T-Ball... or maybe it's because we don't greet him at each base with a forkful of macaroni and cheese... or maybe it's because T-Ball isn't played underwater. The other day Joshua told me he didn't want to play T-Ball, he just wanted to go swimming. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all.

Potty training Moses has been a breeze compared to the nightmarish experience of potty training the twins. The twins were ridiculously stubborn and for the longest time they screamed bloody murder whenever I put them on the toilet. Moses, on the other hand, has been happily sitting on the potty from the get-go. He fully understands what he's supposed to do and will try his best to muster a pee, but if he doesn't need to go, he simply tells me, "the pee is not coming out" and he gets down and tries again later. There's none of the stressful emotionally draining turmoil that characterized the twins' potty training ordeal. Yesterday Moses only had one accident all afternoon and evening, and he's over a year younger than the twins were when they finally potty trained. He's at the point now where if he begins to pee in his pants, he'll realize it and stop, come tell me, and finish the job on the toilet. So, he isn't fully trained, but I am confident that he will be much earlier than his brothers were.

Don't get me wrong, I love my twins and I've been delighted to see them learn and excel in matters of eternal significance. Their teacher recently looked me in the eye and told me how lucky I am to have such nice, sweet boys. I'm confident that luck had nothing to do with how well they've turned out, but never mind that. I'm just thankful that they were our firstborn and that we didn't know any better that a lot of what they put us through was simply ridiculous!

And now for a few quotes:

Moses: "Mommy, where is you in the Bible?"
Me: "I'm not in the Bible. Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and Joe are in the Bible, but not Katie."
Joshua: "Oh no, I'm so sorry, Mommy!"

Moses, after hearing the story of Jesus turning water into wine: "Me don't drink wine."

Moses: "I need to go inside get some water. I be careful, OK?"

Moses, while looking at a picture of his backside and being asked whose butt it is: "That's my butt!"

Joshua: "Daddy! If you eat Cheerios with milk it could make you a giant!"
To give you some context, a few days before we told Joshua that drinking lots of milk would make him grow big and tall like a giant. Now, Joshua is very concerned about becoming a giant like Goliath, has cut back on his own milk consumption, and has been encouraging others to do the same.