This Kid ...

This child is going to be the cause of any and all gray hairs on my head. He is constantly in motion, moving from one thing to the next like the ball inside a pinball machine. (On a related note, one Halloween costume ideas was to make him a pinball and Dave and I the little flappers that whack the ball back into play.) It's no exaggeration that while you attempt to clean up one mess that he created that he's busy creating the next one ... or two or three. Some days there's victory when we manage to fix something he broke or re-engineer something to keep him safe, but it's almost a guarantee that something else is broken that day or needs re-engineering.

Thankfully, most days it's just things. This evening he toppled all the way down the stairs, and I'm not quite sure how because I only heard it rather than seeing it. He laid at the bottom for a moment, dazed, and then sat up, stood up and was off to see what was next. No tears at all.

He's resilient and determined. I thought I was stubborn, and I am. I'm just not sure that my stubbornness is a match for his. When he sets his mind on something, or determines that he's a comedian and that it's hysterical to climb something, there's no stopping him unless gravity wins (or occasionally I think his guardian angel gently trips him to let me catch up). 

Trust me, he was trying to climb higher still.

There's also no stopping his love for his brother. He adores AJ, and we're so blessed that Teddy has AJ for a brother. Teddy mimics AJ, for better or worse, and wants to be doing what he's doing. If AJ is reading in the car, Teddy needs to read a book. If AJ is writing, then Teddy needs a pencil and paper, too. Let's be honest, the book he was just reading will suffice as paper. 

Teddy loves to lay where AJ is to read and tonight copied his pose.

I'm not sure where else this is going, other than there are times that Teddy drives me absolutely crazy and exhausts my last bit of patience ... like when I'm wrestling him off his beloved tractor or trying to convince him to get up from a flop and drop. But then he looks at you with his impish smile and unaltered love and wiggles his way back into good graces. 

Brotherly love at its best.