"The Most Joy"

You always hear parents say that their children bring them joy or that being a mother/father has been the best thing that's ever happened to them. I suppose it's logical to think that most of what we work hard for in life is both challenging and rewarding. You also hear things like "you'll understand when you're a parent" or "you can't possibly fathom how much your parents love you until you yourself are a parent". I've always questioned these statements too. I did imagine myself as a mother, many times, before I actually became one and it's not that far off from what I pictured. I imagined the good stuff and the bad stuff. I imagined myself losing my temper and yelling at disobedient children. I imagined myself on sleepless nights with a sick child. I continue to imagine what the future holds because my experience as a parent will ever evolve. It's interesting to think that I will never not be a mom now.

Here's the thing, when I imagined what it would be like to be a mother, I didn't understand the specifics of what that "joy" was that could match the hard stuff. I didn't realize how much the every day little joys truly do outweigh the every day hard stuff...and even the big hard stuff. I didn't realize how much my little boy's smile would impact me. I didn't realize that he would truly be such a joyful little creature. It's infectious. I didn't realize that in most of the tough moments when he's throwing a tantrum or being punished for making a wrong choice I would be able to take pause and find the humor or think about the instance in the "big picture". Most of the time, when he's crying in public, I find myself giving smiles and nods to the onlookers letting them know "I've got this. Don't feel bad for me or worry about us." It makes me want to raise a power fist in the air because I really do feel like Super Woman.

Patch is such a delightful child. He blesses me when I sneeze or cough. He says please and thank you most of the time without prompting at this point. He's a pretty good communicator and has learned to respond to questions about colors and quantities. Patrick loves trains and cars. LOVES. He can distinguish between a school bus and a city bus and has recently learned to spot helicopters. He calls the steeples on the chapels "rockets". We're working on that one ;) He's started to enjoy "snuggles" and insists on having blankets for snuggling. Yesterday, Scott took a quick nap on the floor and Patrick brought him one of his blankets and a handful of cars. Patch no longer uses a binkie and will go to sleep with cars as comfort objects so naturally, that's what Dada would want too. Adorable.

He's a pretty fussy eater and wants nothing but "noodles and cheese". He also enjoys apples and eats them like melon. If he sees anything green, he avoids it or says "I don like it"...unless it's in a smoothie :D He is like a runaway dog these days. If we let Patch out of the car to walk to the door, 90% of the time he will take off running.

Patrick LOVES dogs and other children. He'll hug perfect strangers. He's just so wonderful.

Sorry for the gushy "my kid is so awesome" post. I wonder if I'll continue writing down the details with subsequent children. Doubtful ;)