Life with Joseph

It's become pretty exciting around here lately. I used to wonder how Joseph would feel being surrounded by sisters. So far, it doesn't seem to be slowing him down.

This week we've been cutting off tags. He HATES the tags in his shirts. He starts taking short breaths and saying, "Ow, ow, owie!" Then he backs up to me and expects me to tuck the tags down. Sometimes, the tags are already down. I thinking some version of Princess and the Pea with this one! So I wasn't shocked, but still not thrilled when he took the scissors to a nice sweater and did his best to cut off the tags (thankfully, the sweater survived). He got most of them off. It ended up in a lot of little tag shards. The next day, I found him with the scissors again...this time cutting the tag off a little toy ball. No one will ever know the ball was made in China. (Like that wouldn't be the assumption anyway.)

Also, this week we've been using the stapler. Being the 5th child, Joseph is learning his arts and crafts skills earlier than his siblings did. We already know he can use scissors. He's been mastering the stapler. And being the mother of so many children, I've become less neurotic about what my kids can play with. So while I didn't love it when he had the stapler, I just looked away and pretended not to see. Until Joseph put three staples into one of the dining room benches. It took pliers to get them out. Now the stapler is on top of the fridge.

Joseph's stapler alternative is tape. He needs to tape everything. He folds up a paper several times then asks for "pate." Again, the mother-of-multiple-children thing kicks in and I just rip off a piece for him. I figure it's not really that expensive. I may need to buy larger quantities of it, though. Of course, asking for tape while I'm in the middle of skinning chicken legs doesn't have a real happy outcome.

Just last week, Joseph figured out how to open doors. I have a feeling the bathroom door lock is going to be used with more frequency now.

I fear that Joseph may have some of Leah's problem with comfort...mostly in clothing. We already have the issue with tags. Now we're struggling with new shoes. They feel DIFFERENT and he's not happy about it. He throws himself to the floor in a tantrum so often, I'm surprised his forehead isn't purple. But he'll get used to the shoes eventually. And these new ones are velcro, so it will be much faster to get his shoes on again every time we go into a new store. I look forward to the day when a tantrum in the van doesn't result in bare feet. Why don't they make tights for boys?

But there are also a lot of fun things to do with (to) Joseph. Having older siblings can be very fun! The kids had a lot of fun dressing him up on Easter. :)