Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Good Sports & Spiders

This past weekend we hosted the T-Ball Rockies end-of-season party at our house. Coach Brian gave each player a certificate and a trophy, accompanied by a superlative such as "Most Consistent", "Most Improved", “Most Athletic”, or “Best Hitter”. Not surprisingly, Caleb and Joshua didn’t win any of those titles. As Coach Brian presented the twins their awards, he noted that he could always count on them to greet him with a friendly, "Hi Coach Brian!” and after each game and practice, they always said, “Thank you Coach Brian! Bye, Coach Brian!" Therefore he granted them both the "Best Sportsmanship" award. I don’t think any other award could have made a mom prouder, and it was cute to see how genuinely excited the boys were to receive their first trophies. I suspect that they would have been much more enthusiastic about playing T-Ball at the beginning of the season had they known they’d be getting trophies engraved with their names when all was said and done!

Now that preschool is over, I'm adjusting to having all three boys with me all the time. There were a few weeks after Tauxemont Preschool ended, but before Joshua's special ed preschool concluded, where I'd have several afternoons each week with just Caleb and Moses. It's amazing how much more peaceful things were with just two boys instead of three. Trips to the grocery store were a breeze and playtime at home was peaceful and much quieter than usual. It's not that I think Joshua is any more disobedient or more of an instigator than the other two; the dynamics just seem to change when you don’t have an even number of children. You'll inevitably end up with an odd man out. In our house, it’s usually Moses and one of the twins versus the other twin, and it usually begins when the twins pick a fight with each other and Moses chooses sides. It’s actually kind of funny to see how the twins will pander to little Moses to try to convince him to be on their side. I've heard it said that the only way to remedy this situation is to have another child to even out the playing field. I'm not so sure about that solution!

In other news, Moses continues to swim like a champ. The funny thing is that he’s more interested in showing off his swimming skills to Caleb and Joshua than he is to me and Joe. Instead of pestering mom and dad for attention, he’s always saying, “Caleb, watch me!” or “Joshua, look at me!” I think it’s just his way of trying to prove to them that he’s one of the big boys. When we ask Moses how old he is, he tells us that he’s 5 years old. He also tells us that he has loose teeth, just like the twins. In Moses’ mind, he and his big brothers might as well be triplets.

Moses is also doing a great job using the potty. After several night-time accidents, we’ve gone back to having him wear a diaper at night (against his will, of course), but he’s definitely diaper-free during the day. We bought some brand new underwear just for Moses, since the hand-me-downs he’d been wearing were all stretched out, his brothers’ bums being significantly more rotund than his own! He seems to be pretty proud of his new under-duds.

And now, a taste of what we’ve been hearing around our house lately:

Joshua and Caleb have developed a habit of saying “Eew Spiders!” at random times during the day. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve deduced that they say this in response to something that looks kind of freaky, gives them the shivers, or simply is not as it should be--usually something with lots of little cracks or lines remotely resembling spider legs. I've heard them say “Eew Spiders!” in response to a wide range of things from lightning bolts to crumbling bread to hair. It's just one of those weird twin things that makes no sense to anyone other than themselves.

Caleb, admiring my new lip gloss: "Ooh, Mommy, I like your red lips."
Joshua, skeptical: "Mommy, you look like a different woman."

Joshua: "My staff doesn't work. It doesn't turn into a snake and it doesn't part the waters. I wish I could have Moses' staff. His staff was really, really cool."

Moses, while eating salsa and chips: "This is very spicy but I keep loving it. It my favorite!"

Joshua: "Are Hawaii and Hawai-oh twins?"
Joe: "You mean Hawaii and Ohio?"
Joshua: "Yeah."
Joe: "No, they're actually very different states."

Moses, while observing the plants in our vegetable garden: "When the zucchini turns red, then we can eat it!"
Me: "No, Moses, the zucchini is not going to turn red. Only the tomatoes will turn red."
Moses: "No! He did turn red!"

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