The Little Things

The little things. Today was a great day, perhaps one of the best holidays we’ve had in a long time. It was just so normal. The whole weekend was full of normal family activities. The boys spent the whole weekend playing in the backyard. We planted strawberry plants and tomatoes. Carter sprayed his brothers with the hose.  We colored eggs. The Easter bunny came last night and hid plastic eggs full of money and little dinosaurs. Carter ran around the yard with his brothers and never once did he feel left out.  There was a spaghetti dinner Saturday night with family in a house full of people who were very contentious about crumbs.

There were Easter baskets from Mimi, filled with toys, clothes and stickers. There was candy, but it wasn’t the focus, just a small addition. There was a basket put together full of things that Carter would like and that were safe for him. I cannot tell you how happy my ears were to hear Carter screaming at Caleb because he wanted his toy. Carter must have climbed up on the kitchen chairs a dozen times, despite the numerous times Mommy and Daddy told him no.

When it was time to clean up for the night, Carter ran right over to help. Daddy said, Who wants to help? And Carter yelled, I Do! He mustered up all his determination and height just to throw away a piece of trash. Me too, he said. He wanted to show Caleb that he could do it too.  Carter wants nothing more than to be JUST like his big brothers. If they laughed, he laughed. If they whined, he whined. If they coughed, he coughed If they picked their nose, so did he.

Carter got to be JUST Carter this weekend. He was defiant. He was silly. He was stubborn. He was loud. He was funny. He was Two.