I haven’t don’t a motherhood post in a while except to update you on the happenings of our sweet P and so I thought I’d give you a glimpse into our everyday life with three boys under the age of 5. Parker is 14 months, Cammy is turning 3 in a couple of weeks and Jackson will be 5 in the spring. Needless to say, at the end of each day I feel like I was run over by a Mack truck.
Going from 0 to 1 child is a mind F. Going from 1 to 2 is much easier because you’ve done it once, you can do it again. The juggling act just increases by 200%. And then oops, I did it again and baby #3 joins the family and you just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. There’s no such thing as an easy phase with 1, 2 or 3 kids.. you hit a groove and then growth spurt. You hit a groove and then teething. You hit a groove and potty training! It never ends.. no matter how many kids you’re juggling.
In our household, we’re juggling a WHOLE lot and I am barely keeping my head afloat as much as it may look like I have it together on Instagram. I am flattered when people tell me that I make it look easy. It really is such a nice compliment. But PLEASE KNOW that I do not have it together and I am just like any other mom begging, pleading, crying and shouting 97% of the day.
Now that school is back in session (I think I just heard a mom shout AMEN!) and we are back to our regular programming, I feel like I can sit down, breathe, and recap what these little coconuts have been up to and how we’re surviving this ever-so-busy stage of life.
Jackson (just shy of 5 years old)
Kid is a rockstar.. he just is. Really a special kinda boy. He, of course, tests my patience most days and gets whiney.. like any other 4.5 year old. But he self entertains, plays so well with his school pals, includes his brother mooooooost of the time, protects Parker, and other than the occasional potty talk, doesn’t really get into trouble. He’s still into cars and planes but the LEGO obsession has begun.. UGH. Don’t know about any other boy moms but LEGOS were created by the devil himself. The smallest pieces that get stepped on, end up in P’s mouth, or scattered about my house.. WHY! Oh, and the second his brothers get their hands on one of his completed masterpieces and a piece comes off.. world war III. He’s also getting into more board/card games and we play as a family most nights before bed. Love that it gets him away from the screen and using his little brain to strategize. He’s super competitive and always wants to win.. I guess what kid doesn’t.. so we’re really trying to teach him to lose gracefully and be a good sport. He’s not always going to be the best at everything and I think teaching that lesson is so important.. especially with their generation. They are used to getting anything and everything they want IN AN INSTANT so keeping him humble is something we’re working hard on. He’s also really into puzzles so I will link his favorites below:
Cameron (almost 3!)
My beloved Cammy monster is almost three and definitely one of our favorites 😉 (they all are but he’s really come up the ranks in the past few months). First of all, he is fully potty trained and SO proud of himself every time he uses the restroom. Honestly, this child just continues to surprise me.. he has handled each transition like a champ. Big boy bed.. bring it. Potty training.. a little hesitant but took one day for him to get the concept. He has had zero accidents since day 2 (happened on dad’s watch for the record!) and just loves his newfound sense of confidence and freedom. He is a much different kid than Jackson.. he is very goofy and silly. He has the funniest sense of humor and lives to make us laugh. But then he’ll be playing by himself and start singing his ABCs or count to 10 and I’m like WHO DAT?! I don’t give him enough credit. He really is a smart guy but his personality is what truly shines each day. He still has some intense temper tantrums and is extremely sensitive… he’ll ask me, “Is mommy mad at Cammy?” and if I say, “No of course not!” he’ll go right back to playing and is so happy. If he actually IS in trouble and asks me the same questions and I say, “Yes, Cammy mommy is upset with you right now” he’ll go into a full blown MELTDOWN. Throws himself on the floor and is just beside himself. It breaks my heart and so I am learning to discipline him a bit differently than Jackson. My words have a real impact on him and so teaching him the difference between right and wrong, time outs, etc. just look a little differently than they did for Jackson at this age. I have to explain to him calmly why I am upset and what he can do differently but of course, this is a LEARNED practice on my part. I don’t succeed all the time and have a short fuse so curbing that and trying to rationalize with him calmly is something I work on daily. He’s my most sensitive child right now but also my cuddliest and loves giving hugs to not only me, but everyone 🙂
Parker (14 months)
The sweetest boy in all the land is turning into a toddler boy who’s personality is REARING its head! Let me just say.. WOW. He is headstrong, stubborn, strong-willed… all the synonyms for an independent dude. Being the third, he has never really been coddled. We give him plenty of attention but he isn’t the baby who was rocked for hours at night or sits in our lap for his bottle. He has always had to kind of figure it out on his own. He gets his bottle and will come and go to it on the ground as he plays because I am usually in the kitchen making breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, their lunches, folding laundry, getting someone a milk, an applesauce, oh I’d love a Z Bar mom. So yeah, Parker has had to find his bottle amongst the chaos. He is still our very best sleeper in the house and goes to bed between 6-6:30 and is up for the day around 7 am. He gets a bath with his brothers about 2x a week, loves a book, and his Lamby and goes to sleep.
I am on the verge of transitioning him from a bottle to a sippy cup but as I’ve learned with the other two, it takes some time. My other boys weren’t fully transitioned off the bottle until about 17-18 months (pediatrician’s recommend around 16 months I think). So we are starting slowly and offering sippy cups with all of his meals and if he still shows signs of hunger, he’ll get a little top off with milk in this Nuk transition bottle. He eats very well but is showing some aversion to eggs and meat.. funny guy. He loves fruit and veggies and all the carbs. Trying to keep him on a well balanced diet, which is tough when the older guys are munching on nuggets and fries.. P wants in on that action and always tries to steal their food 😉 He’s not walking independently yet but starting to push himself up to a “down dog” position on the floor and trying to pull himself up. He’s not quite cruising furniture, either.. but he loves using his walker to get himself across the room. I predict he’ll be a lot like Cam and be a late walker but for now, he’s v happy crawling at light speed on the floor. Here are the baby essentials keeping him happiest right now:
Every day, I find it difficult to give each of them the undivided attention they need but luckily, Cam and Jack play so well together for the most part. Sure, the bickering has started and they have some friendly, and not so friendly, rounds of wrestling but overall they are tight and entertain each other. They absolutely love the trampoline that Santa brought them for Christmas and spend hours out there jumping and laughing. Best present ever. For me 😉 And Parker is just amongst the madness.. he crawls around, plays with cars, shoves anything and everything he finds on the floor into his mouth and is an overall really easy and happy baby.. except when he wants something he can’t have. Cue the screams and flailing limbs.
Motherhood is a juggling act and I feel like I have about 10 balls in the air at any given moment but I know how sad I’m going to be in a few years when they’re all in school the whole day.. sure, they’re going to come home with homework and projects and need to be carpooled to their after-school activities and it’s not going to get any easier… but it’s going to be a very different kind of chaos than what I am experiencing now. They are still little, sweet, funny little wrecking balls. And while it’s hard and exhausting, it’s kind of really fun too.
Next up: a trip to Puerto Vallarta so expect to see some content about what I’m packing and what I bring to keep these little monsters entertained on an airplane 😉
xo, H
