Boo2 - What the Eck?

Okay, so Boo2.  He is a different character than JBB, not better or worse, just different.  From the beginning he was on the go, you could never really hold him as he squirmed and squirmed - my Mum called him 'pass the parcel'.  Within a week of him walking, he was running, he desperately wants to keep up with his big brother, he does everything JBB coes.

Last weekend, we had a family party at a playground which was awesome, we had a beautiful spot under a tree away from the hot sun and the kids could run wild.  I saw Boo2 engaged in a battle with a kid twice his size.  Boo2 was playing with a little dam wall and the bigger kid had come over to push him off so he could play with it.  Boo2 hunkered down and held on to that dam and would not let go.  Finally, the other kid gave up and walked off, I had a little chuckle to myself because Boo2 is one determined little business. I hung back to make sure all was okay and the funny thing was, this big kid obviously decided that Boo2 was worth playing with after that he took Boo2 under his wing.

One of my favourite things that I absolutely adore about Boo2 is his great capacity for joy.  He has always been easy to make laugh and you can really do the same thing over and over again and he will keep on laughing, I love it.  So does everyone else.  When I pick JBB up from school and then we go get Boo2 from daycare, JBB loves to make Boo2 laugh in the car.  Boo2's laugh could make anyone smile, it is mouth open, whole face engaged, head thrown back loud chuckles.  It is one of the most gorgeous sounds in my life.

Since he was a baby, Boo2 has loved to go on slides and pretty much any climbing equipment in a park.  Slides are his favourite by far though and he has this hilarious habit when he is so happy after a slide, he has to jump at the end.  He will do it for hours, run around, go down the slide, jump for joy, run around again.

Today we went to a pool not far up the road that has a little frog slide into the water, even going down that slide, he goes under at the end, pops up and jumps for joy.  Every time he does it, it makes me smile.  I didn't know that 'jumping for joy' was a literal thing until Boo2 came along, bless him!!  I told him today that when we go to Thailand in June that the hotel we are staying at has a little slide into the pool, his response 'awesome!!!'

So, the other thing that happened that has made me say 'what the eck?' is that I was walking down the sideway the other day and Boo2 pushed past me and said 'get out of my way'.  I was very much 'how about you say excuse me?' and he pointed to me and said 'that's what you get'.  Really!?!?!  Then of course, JourneyMan laughed at the situation so I have heard 'that's what you get!' quite a bit lately. **sigh**

 

Close to Perfect

Last weekend, we had the kind of weekend that I had dreamed of having when we were in the trenches of IF.

Friday started with Boo2, my Mum and I going to JBB's first school sports and he won a ribbon for coming first in his running race - yay.  It was the cutest day, he couldn't wait to tell everyone what his favourite part of the day was, riding the bus - ha ha, cracks me up.  Boo2 just wanted to run himself, he kept on repeating 'I run, Mummy?', 'When I race, Mummy?'  He always wants to be doing what JBB is doing.  When we got there, JBB went and sat with his friends and Boo2 went and sat next to him.  Gorgeous.

On Saturday morning, I was up with the boys at the crack of dawn - cos, well that's what time they get up, every, single, day.  We had our breakfast and talked about what we were going to do over the weekend and then I headed off to bootcamp.  I have been on a bit of a fitness kick, trying to keep up with these two little live wires so have been doing bootcamp 4 mornings a week for the past 4 weeks - foof, I am exhausted!!

When I got back, we took the boys to swimming lessons.  One thing about Boo2 is, he is a big smiler - for his whole swimming lesson, there is always a big, big smile plastered across his face, it always makes me smile.  JourneyMan goes in the pool with Boo2 and I site between both classes and watch both boys.  JBB was assessed to see if he was ready to go up to the next level but he wasn't quite. I was actually quite relieved by that - he has had quite a change with starting school so going up to a more challenging swimming class was unecessary at this point, I felt.

After the swimming lessons, we were going to go straight to the Caravan and Camping show but two things happened, I forgot my Fitbit (and I was on a 6 day streak for 10K of steps each day) and Boo2 spewed up his cheese and vegemite sandwich.  So we ducked home for a change of clothes for Boo2 and to make sure he was okay (unfortunately, he is a bit of a spewer, if he puts too much in his mouth he spews, too much milk, he spews, and then of course there are his allergies).  The Caravan and Camping show was fun - JBB kept saying 'this is the best day ever' which always feels very nice.  They had a great time inspecting tents and caravans.  Our main aim was to get inspired for our Easter trip which definitely worked and it was just a fun day altogether.

On Sunday, we have been going to the Thousand Steps which is a memorial walk not too far from our house (a memorial to the Australia soldiers who suffered on the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea in the Second World War).  It is a tough but reasonable short trail - it takes about 40mins to go up and back and there is a lovely playground at the bottom that the boys love having a play at while JourneyMan and I take turns going up the trail.

After the thousand steps, we took the boys home so Boo2 could have his afternoon sleep and I took the chance to do a bit of cooking to prepare for the week.  Once Boo2 woke up, we went to the park down the road, it was the most beautiful day an end of summer day that was just amazing.  We played football altogether in the park and then the boys had some fun in the playground.

I know that this sounds like a pretty pedestrian, unexciting weekend but to me, it was bliss - beautiful, smiling faces, laughing and jokes, just being together and enjoying our time.  One of the things that our journey through IF taught me was that you have to take the happiness where you can get it and honestly, the happiness over the weekend was palpable.  I am one lucky, lucky person.

First Day of School Tears

So I could for sure write a post on the mind boggling quick passage of time but I would much rather talk about our Journey Baby Boy who is now a Big School Boy.  

I have never really thought I would be a mother that would cry when their child went to school - I thought that people were crying because they would miss their baby when they were away for them or because they wished that they wouldn't grow up.  I had an inkling that all might not go as expected on the last day of kindergarten last year.  My darling JBB and his kindergarten class had a Christmas concert - he told me that he was going to  sing for me at the concert and I smiled and said I couldn't wait but in my mind wondered if it would be indeed a time that we would watch the other kids sing whilst JBB hid his face in embarrassment as he had done at the day care concerts.

Throughout the kindergarten year we had some challenges with JBB not feeling comfortable in joining in on particular occassions -  at Auskick, at birthday parties etc, etc.  He is quite a cautious kid and it is always a very fine balance between pushing too hard and him missing out on fun.  We had his birthday party at an indoor playground with a big slide and, in one of my better moments of parenting, we decided to take him there a few times before the party so he was comfortable - he was and he ruled that party!!

Anyway, back to the kinder concert.  We arrived at the centre and it was hugely crowded, I thought that would send JBB running but he saw his teacher and walked easily over and took his place on the 'stage' with his friends.  To all our surprise, he sang the songs and did all the actions whilst many of the other kids shied away and didn't really participate.  It struck me at the time how grown up he was, how much he had matured in that kinder year, what a great person he is becoming.  They were singing a song about how to say hello and goodbye in different languages and I thought 'he is saying goodbye to these friends' and that was it, I was crying.  It was compounded by the fact that they also sang this 'Santa Claus is coming' song by High Five and this is a song that haunted me throughout my infertility journey - every Christmas Eve, it was on Carols by Candlelight and of course it started that I would sing this with my kids in the next few years, then year after year, I got sadder and sadder about it when my arms were still empty - even to this day, I can barely hold myself together when I hear the song so when my beautiful, hard fought little man started singing it with his mates - I was done, crying, crying, crying.  

So, fast forward to late January when it was JBB's turn to have his first day of school.  He was super excited about going, he was up at 5am getting his uniform on and asking every 5 minutes if it was time to go yet.  There were the obligatory pics on the front steps (JourneyDog who is Woolly photobombing the pics), uniform spanking clean, unscuffed shoes and a schoolbag almost bigger than him.  Hugs with Mum and Dad, hugs with his little brother, hugs with his dog.  In the car on the way over, he said to me 'I'm a bit nervous, Mum' and I told him it's okay to be nervous, I am always nervous when I start new things and his Dad told him that everyone else is for sure nervous too.

There were many many people there, the classroom was humming with activity and emotions were running over everywhere.  JBB stuck to my side like glue, even though he had made some friends and they had come in, he was loathe to move away from my side.  JourneyMan had to leave for work so it was just JBB and me.  I could see he was getting distressed and I was also.  Thankfully one of the teacher helpers came over, I was the second last Mum to leave and I needed to go because they were about to start.  I hugged him and told him that I would pick him up soon and he clung to me and whispered 'don't go yet'.  My heart clenched and I said that I had to go.

I put my head down and walked as fast as I could to my car and then sobbed the whole way home.  I've thought about it often since then (it's only been a week) and wondered why I was crying.  The main part was that he was distressed and I had to leave him - that was tough but I think I would have cried anyway and I am not exactly sure why.  I am super proud of how he is meeting all these milestones, I am very happy that he is becoming independent and I am excited to see him becoming his own person.  

He ended up coming home super excited but also told me that his favourite bit was doing some drawings for me when he was crying - queue a few swallows to hold back more tears!  So, this morning, I was up at 5:15am to go to bootcamp and when I looked in his room, he was already putting his school uniform on, he absolutely loves school and can't wait everyday to go.