Who is this child?

Who is this child sitting before me?

Jack has been quite a delight over these last few days. He is remembering his manners and saying "Thank You" and "Your Welcome" without having to be reminded. He is not fighting me on EVERY single detail of his life like, "go put on your gitchies" and "let's brush your teeth". He is actually cleaning up his toys quite well for a 3 year old which is leading me to believe that maybe one day I will have a life other than picking up after little boys. He is actually listening which was a task that proved to be very difficult just a short month ago.

What's changed? Me? Him? His age? Maturing? Am I yelling less? Yelling more? I just can't quite figure it all out.

He has come a long way from the little boy for the past 1 1/2 years who literally brought me to tears on a weekly basis because I felt like I was failing with him. He was always the worst listener at every play-date. I was always the frantic Mom wondering "where is Jack" every 1 minute because there has been crayon on other people's floors too many times to count. I was the Mom that was dragging her little toddler out of every fun activity he did because he was flailing himself on the ground, throwing a tantrum the size of Mount Rushmore. I was that Mom. That's why I felt like I was failing. A grown woman could not control a 2 year old.

I kept working at him. Tried different techniques. But always remembered that he needed me to love him through it all. And through all those efforts, I am starting to see it pay off. Thank the Lord.

I should have listened to all those Mom's who just gave me a sympathetic look and said "It's a phase, it will end." I guess I just didn't believe them. Their child wasn't acting like this, "could they know?" I was the one Mom that was going to have a tantrum throwing 15 year old too.

So to all those Mom's that are going through it with their first right now. Trust me. From a Mom who knows what you are going through; It is just a phase. They will grow out of it. Keep doing what you're doing.

Now I'm on round 2 with my second littlest child but I know I can breathe a little easier knowing that those words are true. If I stick to my guns, Charlie will grow up just fine too.

Jack pulling all his books off his shelves. He did this at least 3 times a day.

Had to watch him every second, or he was grabbing something. This time, an orange.

Dog Food Stealer.

This is when Jack got into my mascara, and was FURIOUS with me for taking it away!

This was a doozy. His friend and him got into finger paints and painted the carpet and every single toy.