From Bob to Fish, Ducks, and Feet

Books are littered all over our den and Justin's room. The light is no longer at the end of the tunnel; we are now lit ourselves!

The past several days have been difficult for Justin and thus, for us. The trip out of town and the move have been harder on him than we had anticipated. He has argued "no no!" through tears against much of the direction we gave him. We've been hitting our heads against walls (sometimes literally) and leaning on the Lord for that extra pound of patience, love, wisdom, and compassion. He helped us know when to be consistent and when to be flexible with our rules. He showed up with grace for all of us when we were at the end of our ropes.

Over the last few months, the occasional "relief" video turned into a palpable addiction. Justin always wanted more "Bob!" (the Builder- kinda funny with our lot in life these days!) and started not even wanting to watch it, but always wanting more anyway. We've had many of those moments when your toddler does not make sense and you just gotta tell them you love them and wait for them to move past the season. He had stopped playing with his toys or reading his books. "Bob!" was all he wanted.

So, upon return from Charlotte and into our new pad, we decided to purge our system of "Bob!" (Sometime we'll bring "Bob!" back after it seems a healthy time to do so.) Justin's asking for it less and less. And today while I was nursing Nathan (previously- ample "Bob!" time), Justin sat contentedly on the floor in front of me paging through a pile of books he retrieved from his "wooom!" He's back to loving books and requesting his favorites, currently "The Rainbow Fish" (with the "ish" and the "ah pus pus"-octopus), "Some Ducks", and "The Foot Book."

So we are feeling blessed at the Flaherty household.