My Joe

I have been thinking back a lot lately on Joseph's baby blessing and the part where he was blessed that he would have a special relationship with his mother. We definitely have a special relationship and though it has come easy because I am his mother and he is my child, it has still been a long road. Joseph is by far my busiest child, and has been since day one. He wouldn't sleep until well past midnight and even now he wakes up often in the night. When he is awake during the day, he must be kept occupied or he finds his own fun in my brown sugar container, the fridge, or the bathroom sink. There are days when he makes me want to pull my hair out and Mr. Stannix sometimes jokes that he's taking years off his life, but we sure do love our Joseph. Over these last couple of weeks when I find him in the middle of one shenanigan or another, I constantly remind myself that he is not a bad child, he does not mean to be bad, he is just curious and busy, oh so busy. This morning he polished off three yogurt containers before I even woke up. He's the kind of kid that likes his breakfast at 5:30am. He would eat cookies for breakfast lunch and dinner and has asked for them at 3:00am on more than one occasion. Before lunch he flooded the downstairs bathroom by repeatedly dumping boat fulls of water on the floor. After his nap he chased his siblings with a pair of scissors, snipped my yarn project before it was finished and covered himself in Vaseline all while I was changing Finley's diaper. And don't even get me started on the bedtime struggle. Usually I say a lot of "Get back to bed please!" and he replies, "Akay akay, I wiwll I wiwll..." Then when I need him to do something and he doesn't "wanna" he will usually respond with "I un waaaaana" in a low growly voice. Because our days can be so chaotic and busy sometimes, I cherish the quiet moments I get to spend with him. He gives the best hugs with his arms wrapped tightly around your neck. He still kisses me on the lips and asks for it often. He loves stories. He loves to play this game where he runs at me from the otherside of the room and knocks me over with a giant hug over and over again. He is pretty rough and tumble and likes to tackle his siblings to the floor and put them in head locks. He hasn't quite grasped the concept of whispering when the baby is sleeping and will talk even louder if I ask him to. Sometimes I just need to remind myself to forget about the dishes and laundry and just sit on the floor and play with him, because when we are playing together he doesn't get into as much trouble and I really love his belly laughs! He really is a good kid, and we really do have a special relationship. He has a big heart and a lot of love to give! I love this kid more than he will ever know!