Tomorrow my youngest boy will turn two years old. Exactly one week later his older brother will turn five. I have no idea where these past few years have gone. They have been the fastest and the best of my life.
What is it about these little boys that give me so much joy? Please humor me while I take this moment to brag a little bit.
My five-year-old is a thoughtful, inquisitive, cautious child, though he also has plenty of energy, and like a typical boy, he likes to wrestle, run, and scream. He used to be shy, but in his fifth year, he has opened up like a sunflower, tall and confident, looking people in their eye and telling them all sorts of odd facts.
He loves plants and gardening, so he likes to tell people about his garden and how he planted pumpkin seeds. We have three small pumpkins, which look like they’ll ripen soon, and he diligently waters them every night. In fact, he likes to water all our plants and flowers every night. I have expected this chore to be turned over to me, but his enthusiasm has not waned a bit.
Almost everyday we watch some kind of nature show with the kids, and I’m always astonished that my kids are interested in these shows, which are difficult to understand.
My 5-year-old watches and listens, and later he’ll tell us some facts about the animals. Sometimes he gets the details wrong, but he’s always in the ballpark.
My 5-year-old is also learning how to read, how to ride a bike, and he wants a train set for his birthday. His opinions are flourishing, and his imagination flaring. How can this little life have come from me, I wonder? Looking back at my own childhood sensibilities, I pale in comparison.
Then there is the two-year-old. Like his brother at that age, he’s a big boy, weighing in at over 30 pounds. He walks and runs with ease, but he still likes for mama to carry him. He tucks his hands and shoulders in whenever I pick him up and lays his head flat on my shoulder. (His older brother never did that.)
He is the agile one. He climbs on everything, has to touch everything, gets into everything, and generally has me running in circles. In contrast to his older brother, he likes to build with blocks, and he’s always trying to figure out how things work. Whenever he walks by his highchair, he stops to snap the straps together.
He follows his older brother and imitates everything he does. If the five-year-old is running and accidently falls down, his younger brother runs up beside him and collapses on the ground too. This has been useful because instead of tears, there’s a lot of laughter.
I can tell that my two-year-old will be a hands-on kind of learner, but my eldest likes to watch and observe before he tackles something on his own. I love that my boys are different, and it’s exciting to figure out what their needs are and how I can help them.
Despite the loud, chaotic house that we live in now, my husband and I both feel blessed beyond belief. We have had five years of parenthood. It has changed and humbled us. It has sped us into the future. We don’t look back.
Shelli Bond Pabis is a Winder resident and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can reach her at writetospabis@gmail.com.
