Big Brother

The past week has been a rough one to say the least. Daddy has been in the hospital and they placed him on an "end of life" strategy. He's had surgery to insert a drainage tube from his stomach, and they've set up with a hospice company. I'm sure I'll have much more to say about all of this later, but for now it's easier to focus these paragraphs on my special kids. Eve has been so good and quiet (during the day, at least...she's still eating quite a bit at night). She has been a great distraction and source of smiles in the hospital, and she doesn't even know it. God has really worked out the timing well. Earlier this week I was having a rough time emotionally and John was really challenging me, but God has given me the strenth to be somewhat of a mom when I really need to, and has provided AMAZING help when I can't handle it on my own. We've had two friends keep John for long periods of time while we went to the hospital, and Buck has done more than I can begin to write. Even John has helped. This morning we were loading some mattresses into the van to take to Mama and Daddy's. Lots of family is coming into town today. Eve was crying and I was worried that I'd find John on top of her when I got back inside, or that he would have pulled her on the floor. When I came back in, Eve was quiet. I was terribly nervous, but came around the corner to find John leaning very gently over her holding her passifier in her mouth. What a great big brother. I just went on and on praising him. I was so proud of him. Of course, knowing how little he knows about his size and being gentle (although I think most times he wants to be gentle), I know it was one of the little details that God was in today.
Earlier in the week we went to Mama and Daddy's house to work on a little project. I took him inside and he ran down the hall looking in all the doors for Grandma and Papa. He was so disappointed to find out they weren't home. Think they've had a big influence on him?
One other thing from this week...totally unrelated. John and I were working on puzzles. He has a few wooden puzzles where the pieces are very different shapes...not the cardboard type. Anyway, there's one with bugs on it (he calls most of them butterflies, which will lead me to another story). I usually point to the place where the piece fits and encourage him to turn it around until it goes in the slot. This week he actually started finding the correct place on his own! He's not 100% accurate, but he's done a pretty good job at it. I think that's a big accomplishment. As for my other story, we've had flies in the house and they're going to drive me into a straight jacket. I was chasing them with the fly swatter while John was eating lunch the other day and he was very entertained. He later grabbed a spatula off the counter (he's gotten into a bad habit of climing on furniture and other things to reach the counter) and started swatting "butterflies" with the spatula, and enjoying every minute. I don't think he actually saw any flies, just liked the swatting motion. As frustrating as his whining and misbehaviour can be, he is such a special and funny kid. He is constantly making us smile.