Pick Yourself Up And Try Again

Douglas is basically potty training himself.  It's hilarious.  We don't have the gumption or the inclination right now to push him on it.  But we certainly don't want to do anything to slow down or hinder his own natural process or readiness.  So, we just try to do our best to respond to his requests.  He's totally rockin' it out.  (Don't worry, this is not a potty training post!)

Last night, Micah was with him in the bathroom and I heard a thud, then a short cry, and Micah asking him if he wanted to try again, to which I knew Douglas said yes because Micah's response was "good job trying.  You're so brave to try again."  He had fallen off the toilet.  Nice.

Well, today I'm up there with him again.  I'm sitting on the side of the bath tub, he's on the toilet.  He reaches out suddenly and confidently to touch the owl on my shirt that he's totally into right now - and there he goes again.  Falls of the toilet, hitting his face on my knee - his bum up in the air and his body wedged between the toilet and my leg.  Before he could take a breath or I could say something mother-y and comforting, he says - face still smashed against my leg, mind you - "try again!" All matter-of-fact, with gusto.  I laughed and said, "great idea, buddy.  You want to try again?"  He of course said yes and I scooped him up and put him up on the toilet again. 

I love these moments in parenthood.  The ones where you realize that you're doing some things right.  That your best might actually be enough.  I may say things or do things as a mom that I wish I didn't do.  I may feel most of the time like I have no freaking clue what I'm doing and like the stakes are very, very high.  But then there are those moments when I realize that what we're doing here is actually working.  Our baby is actually learning the lessons that we really want him to learn: That trying is what's important.  That he is brave and strong.  That trying something new or scary takes bravery, but that he can do very hard things.

He is running top speed around the corner in this picture.  His shirt says, "Instant Superhero.  Cut in case of emergency" and the spiderman face has dotted lines around it.  LOVE IT.  Glasses compliments of his tool bench.  Safety first! 

Now, he may not be learning the "Douglas, don't drink out of other peoples' cups" lesson or the "don't ever hit, even when you're angry or SUPER excited" lesson

or the "for the love of God, please stop grabbing things (like hot coffee or fragile items or ANYTHING) off of the counter!!!" lesson.  But, ultimately, those aren't the really important lessons in life.  Eventually, he'll catch on to those things if they're important.

What I REALLY want him to know with every ounce of his being is that we love him.  That we're proud of him for trying new things and being brave.  That the Father loves him and treasures him and knows him.  That he is important.  That every person in this world is important and is a part of one big, ginormous family - so we must be kind to one another.

And, you know what?  I think he's really catching on.