Douglas is learning more and more about emotions, which I find fascinating and beautiful. For a couple weeks, he kept saying, "Douglas fraid" about new people or things. Recently, when he got into trouble, he bowed his head down in shame. I said "Buddy, you don't need to be ashamed, you just need to look in my eyes and say that you're sorry. You made a mistake. It's ok." He looked at me and said "shy." Oh...I see. You're shy? The guy who likes to quote the line from Elf where Will Ferrell stands there singing loudly in a store...Douglas' version is "STORE! SINGING!" Yeah, super shy. One of my favorites that he's learning to express is frustrated. That one really cracks me up. "Douglas frustrated" or, now that he's starting to use full sentences - "I very frustrated". He'll see a random picture of a person or an illustration on a logo or sign and say "man sad?" if he thinks they don't look happy enough. It melts my heart when he looks at me and says, "Mommy happy?" Yes, buddy...I'm so very happy.
He also has a very strong sense of standing up for himself - something I think we will eventually be grateful for. For now, it's a mixture of hilarious and super annoying. The other night, Micah had a touch of frustration in his voice when he told Douglas to get in his chair for the third time. Douglas said, "Don't yell at me!!" If you try to nudge him gently in the right direction in a public place to say, "ok, buddy, time to walk this way", you are met with the very lovely "don't push me!" - which of course draws all kinds of judgmental stares.
He keeps surprising us with his funny, quirky little comments. "Oh, I see." "That's plenty." "Hmm, let's see." "Alrighty then." "No way, Jose." He obviously mimicks us and our sayings a lot, which is a little scary...but very hilarious.
There are moments when I am struck by how very blessed we are. One of these moments came on this cool night when Douglas was "helping" Micah with the leaves in the back yard. Watching them was mesmerizing.
Life is good. Hard as the dickens sometimes - but good.
Timon is finding his voice more and more (it's a loud voice). He rolls over and squeals with delight and talks to the ceiling or to his toys. He has a precious, chubby face and loves loves loves to be around people. He's discovered that those two hands that kept knocking him in the face and getting tangled in his hair are, in fact, his hands and can be used for things like holding toys or reaching up for Daddy or grabbing Grammy's face and pulling her close enough to get his entire mouth around her cheek for a kiss. He has huge, adorable eyes that look like puppy dog eyes when he's sleepy and are full of light and joy when he's excited. The older he gets, the more giggly he gets. All signs seem to point to him being a very spirited, lively little fellow filled with gusto and joy and laughter. And a temper to match.
The good news is, there is a Talk that I know very well that goes something like this - "passion is your gift, but there is a flip side to it that you have to reign in a bit (aka. the side that makes you yell at people)". I know this Talk because my mom started giving it to me right around the time that I was old enough to speak. So. At least I'm prepared. Sort of.
Douglas and Timon are starting to really become buddies. It's so amazing. When Timon's fussy, he calms right down if Douglas goes over and starts talking to him or just stands by him. He loves looking at his big brother. The other night, I was holding Timon at the dinner table. He was sitting on my leg facing Douglas. Timon gave him a big smile, as per usual, and Douglas cracked up. Then Timon started laughing. Then they broke out in a full-blown giggle sesh. Nothing was said. They just looked in each other's eyes and laughed harder than I've ever heard either of them laugh. This went on for a couple minutes while Micah and I just smiled at each other and watched. It reminded me of those times when you're slap happy and can't stop laughing. When's the last time you laughed that hard? Kids have so much to teach us. Watching my two sons learn to really love and like each other and become friends is a more thrilling and joyful experience than I ever could have hoped for or imagined. They are so lucky to have each other. I am so grateful that they do.
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