One unexpected aspect of raising a four year old boy is this rumoured increase, or spike in their testosterone levels. What was once my sweet gentle angel with unlimited amounts of patience and kisses, has offered us a flip in personality. One evening spent with family proved that there was a very evident difference in his behaviour. There was a time when his cousin was a much more energetic and aggressive player, opting for more hands on activities than sit down quiet times, this recent get together proved a total turn around. The Ro-Dog seemed as if he was on a rampage of aggression, whereas his cousin was the innocent bystandard. It was strange and super hard to handle.
After trying to find a bit more information on the supposed peak in testosterone levels in 4 year old boys, I also came across a little excerpt about their difficulty hearing at that age. I am pretty sure that information has changed my life. When I comment, or sing a sad quiet song about Ro-Dogs broken ears, there is actually truth in it. Looks like there is going to have to be some more serious parenting book reading in my future, oh and so returns my obsessive research on how the hell you parent!
So four is really great, though very trying at times, and so it goes.
One and a half is also seriously rocking my world these days too. The words that A-Rcok is now saying is so unbelievably adorable that it melts my little heart every time I hear his little 'Na noo" (the dog we walk in the mornings Manou), oween (Rohan), lory (story) and the list goes on. Bah, kills me with cuteness.
Both of these ages have offered me a quiet exhalation. I feel such a loss of tension as they have reached their respective ages. They are able to play together, sort of, they are able to be left to their own devices for longer periods of time without fear of stair falls or smothering brotherly 'love'. You do not realize how shallow your breath is until you feel it go back to normal depth.
Babies are a bit freaky, they are breakable (not really, in fact I read somewhere that their bones do not solidify until they are toddler (ish) age) they are 100% dependent on you for their survival, a bit daunting if you ask me. There is a much more relaxed attitude to parenting an infant when you have done it before, but every singe time Ro-Dog reaches a new stage in his life, it is still very very new to me as well. But we are at a good one now.
