Healing Ear

The ear is healing. I was a bit worried last night because Nathan's cheek and ear looked red and a bit swollen, but this morning he woke up (after sleeping through the night) just fine and has been pretty happy all day. His ear is still a bit sore, but I can tell he feels fine. Yesterday when his medicine would wear off he would take his comforter and lean over the rocking chair ottoman and rock. :-(
I met a friend and her girls at a park this morning and let the kiddos play. Of course, it's always a little hard to actually talk to my friend since my children love to run. ha I don't have to be right with Nathan anymore as long as I can keep an eye on him, but Noelle will run until I don't know when. When she takes off, there is no looking back or wondering where momma is. So, I have to keep VERY close to her. I did finally corral them both at one point, and I told them that they could not leave a certain play area. So I did get to do a little talking. ha
When we got home, we were all very hot and tired. The park had a splash pad, so they had been able to get some relief, but we were still hot and tired. Noelle fell asleep on the way home but went straight to the little table when we got inside and wanted to color. So I let her color, then I set up an activity with Nathan (gluing noodles to paper...a game I got out of a math book). I was going to let Noelle have a part in the fun, but she kept eating the uncooked noodles...even though I had given them both a snack along with the activity. ha I got out the math blocks and let her have some while I did a few things with Nathan and finished his school.
Oh, some Nathan stories. Nathan has to lie down for 10 minutes after I put the drops in his ears. The first day I did it, I told him that he would have to lie down for 10 minutes. After a few minutes I told him that he only had four minutes left. He said, "How many minutes have I passed?" I told him six. Later that evening when Evan got home, I heard him tell Evan that 4+6 was 10. Evan agreed. Nathan went on to tell him that he knew that because he had to lie down 10 minutes and that I had told him that he had four minutes left and he had already passed six minutes, so he knew that four and six must be ten. Yes, I was impressed. ;-) Yes, I am his mother. ha ha So far, he seems to think mathematically. Everything turns into a math problem in his head.
He also likes to figure things out. One of his favorite phrases is "OH, I get it!" He comes up with crazy reasons for things (why heat is good for his earache, for example), and he wants us to explain everything to him. His mind cannot rest until he thinks he "gets it." Kind of tiring, really.
Noelle is just my girl. :-) A bit after I put her to bed tonight, I heard "MAAAAAAMAaaaaa! MAAAAAMaaaaaaaaa!" I went into her room, and she was standing up in her bed. She handed me a little something (it almost looked like a white watermelon seed) and said "take dis." I took and said that she had to go to bed now. She walked back over to the other side of her bed, sat down, and started looking at her books again. ha Sometimes I hear her in there "reading" her books; then she goes to sleep without any fuss.
I'm really struggling with finding good ways to keep my kiddos happy with each other lately. Nathan loves to aggravate and be in Noelle's face, and Noelle loves to scream at and slap him when he's being obnoxious. It just escalates so quickly! I guess they really aren't that bad too much; it's just that when they are, it wears me down quickly! Nathan hasn't been in the best of moods the last couple of days, and one way he loves to irritate Noelle is to scowl at her. She then yells "NO!" at him, and it's on. I keep telling Nathan that we're trying to teach Noelle how to be sweet, and sometimes he gets it. He told me this afternoon that she wasn't being sweet to him, but I said that Jesus wants us to be sweet to others even when they aren't nice to us. Hopefully I can show him that lesson, too. That is the hard part!
Goodnight!