The Sweetest Boy

Today's is L's birthday.  I seriously cannot believe he is already 4 years old.  In many ways he is way ahead of his years.  He has always spoken very well.  His vocabulary amazes me sometimes.  He can hit a ball off a pitching machine, is amazing with a soccer ball, and don't get me started on his dance moves (when he plays Just Dance 2 on the Wii with M, it is extremely funny). 

There are other areas, though, where I feel like he's stuck and can't move forward.  The potty training is ridiculous.  He now claims that he's afraid to "see his pee" and refuses to go in the potty.  We have not had one drop of urine in the toilet.  He wears underwear all day and when he has to go we go into the bathroom, put on a diaper, he stands in front of the toilet and regularly declares,"can you see my pretend pee?"  He even pretend flushes.  After he goes, we take the diaper off and I make him throw the diaper away.  In the last three weeks, he has consistently pooped in his pants.  I can't even get him to let us know to do it in a diaper.  Frustrating, to say the least.  But, understandable.  Everything in his life is so out of control and this is something that he can control.  Not sure how we are going to move past this.  We've tried all the tricks...bribery, cheerios in the potty, doing it with his brothers...nothing, nada, zippo.  I try not to make a big deal about it, but it is really getting old.

His whining has also gotten really bad.  It's like the only way he knows how to get attention sometimes is to regress to the whine.  He really has never been much of a whiner.  As with most things in this house, this behavior has appeared since the girls moved in.  I try to be patient and get him to calm down and use his words, but again, my frustration level gets pretty high.

But...

L is the sweetest little boy.  He is so interested in the world and constantly cracks all of us up with his observations on the world.  Since the moment he was born I have always told everyone that he is truly our blessing.  He keeps me in the present moment and reminds me that this world can still be a good, positive place.  We all love him so much.  As I've said before, this isn't what I planned for him, but I have to believe that he's happy and will work through all of this junk.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy.  Mommy loves you very much.

p.s. his "bug" party was a huge success on Sunday and he had a great day.  We do now have plastic bugs all over the house, but it's worth it to see the smile on his face.