Last weekend, Mr. Handsome’s mom and four sisters came to visit. Two of the girls are in high school and college, and two of them are married with kids. It was pretty chaotic to have five little kids in our house at once, but we had a lot of fun. I’m really thankful to have found some great deals on toys for older kids earlier this summer. Mr Handsome rolled his eyes when I brought them home, but they sure did come in handy!
I really enjoyed watching Little Buddy interact with the two other babies. My infant nephew is three months older, and my infant niece is five months older. The two of them are more mobile, but he has surpassed both of them in size.
I also loved seeing my almost 5-year-old niece and almost 3-year-old nephew play with Little Buddy. My nephew just adored him. One evening at dusk, he jumped off a step on our porch about 50 times in a row, and every single time Little Buddy let out a big belly laugh.
My niece, who just had her fifth birthday party but hasn’t yet had her actual birthday, is probably the smartest little kid I have ever met. She is very advanced in school (my sister-in-law homeschools her) and is well spoken. Early one morning, I woke up to find her in the living room singing a perfect rendition of “Rockin Robin.”
I told her how well she was doing, and she replied, “Well I can’t sing it as high as Michael Jackson.”
“How do you know about Michael Jackson?” I asked, laughing.
“He’s the one who sings the song,” she replied, matter-of-factly.
I was also reminded of the refreshing honesty of young children when she pushed her younger brother over while they were reading a book. (She is very well behaved most of the time, but no one is a perfect angel.)
“Why did you push him?” my sister-in-law questioned.
“He was in the way of the book!” She responded. I turned away so she wouldn’t see me laugh. Oh the innocence of littles!
Do you have any stories to share about the children in your life?
Anonymous
No one is a perfect “angle”?
Ellie
Thanks for catching my typo!
Anonymous
When I was a nurse working in a hospital, I was walking down a long hallway and noticed a man walking with a little girl (probably 4 or 5 years old). She was looking down at the floor seemingly not paying attention to where she was going. I had to stop to avoid her walking in to me. The dad was trying to find something in his pocket so he wasn’t paying attention either. When he realized he said, “I told you to watch where you are going.” She replied, “I am Daddy. I’m watching where my feet are going.” He looked at me, apologized and then smiled and shrugged his shoulders! I smiled and said, “She’s being honest!” Sweet innocence of a child! ~C
Ellie
That’s precious! And a good reminder not to snap at our children. Sometimes they are disobeying, but other times they are just doing what they think they are supposed to be doing.
Ellie
anonymous
Just now funny post on face book made me think of this blog post, (Wow, that’s a house full of energy!)
“It’s not about how tired you are, it’s about how tired you are making everyone else.” -My husband explaining bedtime to the children.
Ellie
LOL! My sister-in-law JUST shared that meme with me. It’s so true.
Ellie
Barb
I absolutely love that. It’s a keeper.
Eileen
Sweet story of precious family time. I have made the decision to no longer share about our children or grandchildren on the internet. I am curious Ellie, do you share before you post about family, with that person, what you would like to post? How do you handle family privacy that way? You are very discreet and good for you. Eileen
Ellie
We have had conversations with our family members about what they are comfortable sharing. They aren’t concerned about fun little stories, as long as I don’t share share anything personal. Most have asked me not to share photos of them.
Ellie
Eileen
I am sorry if my comments came across as criticism. They were not meant to be. I no longer share about my family because I am respecting boundaries and that just made me think of how you do it so well. I will stop here in case I am digging a bigger hole for myself. Eileen
Ellie
Nope, I didn’t feel criticized at all. 🙂 Hope you have a great day, Eileen!
Ellie
Unknown
Eileen if you post on Facebook just set the settings to private so only your family sees them.. That’s what my sister does.
I love it when people post picture then you get to see the kids growing up.
Anonymous
Just wait. “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.” You have years and years ahead of you where your own little one will come up with things you never dreamed could come out of a child’s mouth…… Usually in public, and very loud too! LOL
Cindy
When I was little, I used to be the type of kid that would run out of stores when my family was shopping.
Ellie
LOL. My nephew has a habit of running off, too. It’s interesting that some kids really have the “stranger danger” thing down and stay close to Mom and Dad, while others have no healthy fear of strangers.
Ellie
Jamie
That’s cute. I have three children and there is a little girl next door who comes over everyday. My kids are older, 14, 12, 10 and she is 5. She is an only child so I think she just likes more company. Anyways every day she draws pictures at my house and she has started drawing pictures of our family with her as the 4th kid. Except we are all in black and white and she is in full color! Like, “ta da!” “I’m here!” I am glad she feels at home.
Ellie
That’s so sweet! I used to do that when I was little, although for me it was the other way around. I was 7-10 years old, and my neighbors were younger. I enjoyed playing with them, but I also enjoyed being like a big sister to them because I didn’t have any younger siblings. When I turned 12, I started babysitting them.
Ellie
Jessica
I have alot of stories to tell with my six children but I don’t have time for that. Most of my children are under 2 years apart so it’s not anything new, but it’s still so special seeing them interact. It’s so sweet seeing my youngest two interact. One just turned two and my other son is 5 months old. My baby will just laugh at my 2 year old. It’s so funny. And my 4 year old always talks to his baby. He sings him songs and reads him books. It’s so sweet. My 5 month old loves his siblings so much. He looks at them so lovingly. I think sibling interaction is so special. I don’t think it matters how far apart they are at least when they are little.
I think our babies are about the same size. My baby was 18.6 lbs last month. He goes up to his 2 year old brother’s shoulders. I think you mentioned your son was 18 lbs in a past post. He might weigh more now. Does he have any teeth yet? My youngest son has two teeth, which is young compared to when his siblings had their first teeth.
Ellie
Oh how sweet!
I think he is up to almost 20 pounds. No teeth though. I got my first tooth at 11 months, so he might be late. Is your 5-month-old trying to crawl?
Jessica
I had a son who cut his first tooth at 11 months or so. He cut alot of teeth at once. I think 5 months is too early. Especially with breastfeeding and biting.
My son can’t crawl. I think most of my kids almost skip crawling. Or they wait until 7 or 8 months. He hasn’t even rolled over completely yet. He rolls to his tummy but that’s it. But he will get it. He’s getting too big as it is. Which I’m sure you can relate too.
Ellie
I can imagine that early teeth would be painful for Mama!
I’ve heard that the bigger kids tend to wait a little longer to roll and crawl. My niece was like that, but it seemed like the minute she started crawling she started being able to pull up also. I think it helped that mine started rolling just before he got big. Lol. I’ll be interested to see how quickly he walks. I’m not sure if his bigger size will help with stability or make it more difficult.
Jessica
My baby has only bitten me twice so far. The first time, I said, “ouch,” and he cried. I was surprised. It seems they do it more when they are teething.
Mobility is a blessing since they are growing and developing. But it’s kind of sad how fast they grow.
My daughter was a preemie so she stayed small for a while. But all of my boys have gotten big fast. It still amazes me how much they change and grow daily.
Ellie
Yes, I definitely agree that it is sad to see them grow up. I already look back at newborn photos and get teary eyed. He has changed so quickly! I can’t imagine how I’m going to feel when he moves out on his own one day. 🙁
Ellie
Anonymous
Your niece sounds a lot like my neighbor’s son. He was in trouble almost every day of kindergarten. One morning, he informed his teacher that it was not his fault he got in trouble everyday. She was very surprised when we went on to explain it was actually her fault because she had so many rules. According to him, he would not be in trouble so often if she didn’t have so many rules. She told his parents it was all she could do to contain her laughter. After all, he had a valid point.
Ellie
Haha! That is a valid point, indeed. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Ellie