I learned and re-learned some really fun things about the boys this weekend. Not sure why it's taken me so long to absorb these, but here are some things I realized and enjoyed:
As soon as Isaac hears or sees or reads anything new, he wants to try it out. He is definitely a competitive doer. For example, I brought a shortened version of Treasure Island from the library this weekend and as soon as Isaac read it, he found a little box and filled it with "treasures" (pipe cleaners, beads and his soccer medal) . Then he buried it in the yard, drew a map and had us look for it. He was soooo excited! Later this weekend, I gave the boys some plastic dinosaur bones (that I'd been saving for nice weather) to bury and uncover. Isaac dove right into the excitement of hiding them and pretending to discover them and then hiding them and helping Ian and Colby find them as well. I just love that excitement and creativity and story telling capability, even though many times it involves a whole lot of work on our end, too, as he wants us to be involved and has very specific jobs for us. He is a go, go, go-er all the time and it is sure fun to see all the things he loves. There are so many! He just exudes energy! I just need to expend a little more energy to help him see how much I love his energy!
What I realized about Ian this weekend is that he really has a little scientific mind. There have been times that I have wondered why he doesn't play in that same story-telling, doing way that Isaac has. It took two things this weekend for me to come to the (what should have been obvious) conclusion that God has given him some really neat different gifts. One was when I was reading a chapter in the book called "The Year of Miss Agnes" to Isaac. Miss Agnes is such a creative teacher and she helps the children in her class discover the things that they are really good at and then to be excited about them. Anyway, her description of one little boy in her class just really made me think of Ian and then, when I held his hand as we were walking through Curt Gowdy State Park, I had this huge epiphany about him: He sees the world in a sort of scientific manner. He is always interested in what is going on around him...what he sees, what he feels, what he touches...the caterpillar on the bush, the grasshopper in the grass, the spider on the wall, the moth in the bathtub, etc.
So, this is how our walk went: Isaac running and pretending and seeing how fast he could be and Colby seeing how fast and independent he could be. Ian contentedly meandered next to me, sometimes holding my hand, sometimes running a couple of feet, always holding a caterpillar in his hand (all the way to the falls, which was about 1 1/2-2 miles). And on the way back, he had so much fun meandering again, hardly taking more than a baby step without finding something new and exciting to grab: every kind of fern and leaf and rock and stick that he could find. He had so many treasures in his hands that he couldn't get anything else in without dropping what was already in his hands!
I can't even describe the joy I had watching him enjoy himself so much with the little things. Has it really taken me this long to appreciate his take it slow approach to observing and enjoying life? Wow, I really need to slow down and appreciate what he sees!
What I learned about Colby this weekend is that he is a real comedian and I've just noticed a huge surge in his humor! He loves to laugh hearty, hearty laughs and just about everything is funny to him! The boys watched Disney's Robin Hood today and Scott and I just couldn't help grinning at Colby's long and humongous belly laughs! This weekend I really noticed Colby teasing us and doing silly things and then doing his own commentary and sound effects about those funny things that he just said and did! He just gets such a kick out of things. I'm figuring out that I really need to lighten up and appreciate his little budding humorist personality more. I have a feeling that there will be lots and lots of pranks on his end as he gets bigger.
What a joy to see the special traits that God has given to each of us... not to be used as a label, because certainly the things we observe in each other are not the depth and entirety of our being, but still, doesn't it just open a new understanding of how individual and unique and intricate he made each of us. Reminds me of Psalm 139 ...For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment