Defense mechanisms

Evel Knievel passed away recently and his daredevil spirit has come to reside in Will's body. I suspected that was the case when he climbed up, by himself, into the backyard clubhouse and then proceeded to jump the four feet to the ground. Maybe he fell. Either way, I experienced an arrythmia. After careful observation for 24 hours by his anti-acid popping mother, he showed no ill effects. His next stunt was to climb over one arm of the stuffed arm chair in the living room, stand on his head in the seat, then proceed to catapult himself over the other arm, sailing past the area rug and landing on the hard wood floor right on his forehead. This produced a slight bluish spot but that was about all. Clearly, Evel is among us. I read in a developmental stages website that he might begin trying to come back down stairs now. I was glad they alerted me to this because I wondered what he's been doing for the last 5 - 6 months sliding down on his belly. Actually, he's coming down the stairs face-forward on his bottom, one step at a time, now. Just like his older brother. Rather than being interested in descending like the article suggested, Will is now walking up the stairs and with a hand from Mama, walking down them, too.
Because of these recent events I have developed an acute case of agita. Just relating these events has caused the acid levels in my stomach to rise thereby resulting in abdominal cramping. I bet I'm getting an ulcer. Last night, when he refused to sit on the stairs and insisted upon walking up and sticking his nose through the spokes and laughing wildly, I felt light-headed. I pray the Lord will have mercy on me. Will's grandfather (Doc), reassured me that toddlers come equipped with front and side airbags.
Now if we can only get volume control! Carter and Will are the loudest children I've ever encountered. Seriously. Carter has been loud since the moment he was born. When a hospital nursery worker comments on how loud he is, you know he's loud. Then, there's Will. He tricked us (proving his early genius). He was quiet and sleepy until we brought him home. Then, he began to cry and cry. Loudly. At his 9 month check-up, Will crying earned me sympathy from his doctor. We couldn't hear each other at all and finally, when I picked him up off the examining table, the doctor said, "No wonder you pick him up." He had previously hinted that I shouldn't pick him up so quickly when Will begins to cry. I thought that Carter would grow out of this loud, shrieking kind of outburst instead, he's just become louder with age. Sometimes, he just bursts out for something trivial. The last time he did that, we were trying to get everyone into the car, and he was so loud, our neighbors across the street came out on the front porch to see what the problem was. Naturally, Nathan and I were totally ignoring Carter and going about - business as usual. I bet they have Social Services on speed dial. I finally told Carter, "I understand that sometimes you need to cry and that it makes you feel better. But could you please do it silently and with some dignity?" So, he just screamed with his lips closed. At least the neighborhood dogs stopped barking.
During all these times, I just focus on bedtime. When they go to sleep, I'm suddenly wide awake and my nerves are relaxed. I love to just look at them asleep. God made children the most beautiful when they are sleeping. They seem so peaceful and innocent and angelic with their eyes lightly pressed together and their breath quietly exhaling. That's another safety feature God installed. After a long hard day of trying to keep 2 little boys in line, they fall asleep. They are at their most vulnerable - just the moment of attack. You sneak into their rooms and just as you ready to pounce, you are overcome by their beauty and you kiss them good-night instead and forget about the important papers they used to practice scissoring and the lipstick they used to color the bathroom wall and the horribly stinky diapers that almost made you pass out. God thinks of everything!