Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

That's what little boys are made of.

Yesterday I was marveling at how my babies really are boys.  They are fascinated by every truck that goes by, and make "woah," "oooh," and "rrrrrrr" sounds when they see them drive by or play with their truck toys.  How do they know how to do that? 

Since I've been reading "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson, I've been a little more thoughtful about being a mother to boys lately, too.  So when we were loading up to leave and the cement truck was in our neighbor's driveway, instead of ignoring it, I took it as an opportunity to let the boys watch men work.  We sat on the steps and watched the cement being poured.

Then on our walk yesterday, a little toadish looking frog was hopping across the path.  Rather than ignore it, I stopped and picked it up to show them.  M got a hold of it and put it to his lips!  Not to be outdone, N did the same!  I told them that God made frogs, too - we'd been talking (I'd been talking) about how God made the trees and how they change in the fall.  I was about to tell them we don't eat God's creation, but stopped - because we do!  So I just said frogs aren't for eating.  I wasn't going to mention that frog's legs are a delicacy in some places.

The frog and the cement truck are things that I wouldn't have stopped to look at even a couple weeks ago.  But the fellas aren't babies anymore and they let me know all day every day that they are boys.

Today was another example.

N got bit.

Yep, in the church nursery.  By another boy.  I should have known it was going to happen someday, but I've yet to see either of my sons try to bite each other or anyone else.  (Except for the one time N chomped down on Daddy's special parts....and then when he was nursing....so perhaps there are tendencies, but....anyhow...)

Fortunately, he was the bitEE, not the bitER, and the other mom and I were able to exchange apologies and forgiveness.  N is just 16 months old, so does he even understand what happened?  I explained to him that what the boy did was not nice, but that when someone does something wrong to us, Jesus teaches us we need to forgive them.  Then I took him with me into Mom's Group and fed him a banana and juice.  All was forgiven, it seems, after that...and some Peekaboo Barn game on my phone.

(I've tried 3 times to upload pics for this entry, but for some reason, I can't get it.  I hate technical difficulites because I am NOT a technical person.  If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, then I don't know how to fix it.)  I wanted to show you the bite because I want to know - will this go away by Friday, when we are getting family photos taken?!  The skin is not broken, so I hope it will fade away and not bruise.  Or that my photographer can edit it out. 

It seems as though I've turned some kind of corner as of late, from being a new mom to little babies, to being a mom to BOYS.  I like the cement truck and frogs, but the biting?  I hope I handled it with enough grace that I'm not sent that test again!