Today the boys and I and the rest of Northern Virginia invaded Wegman’s in preparation for the impending blizzard. It was only my second time at Wegman’s and since the store was so crowded and chaotic, I decided it’d be best to put all three boys in the cart. I put Moses and Caleb in the upper seat and Joshua sat in the main compartment. This of course left very little room for actual groceries, and we were the subject of quite a few stares. As usual, I got many comments about having my “hands full”. One lady said, “wow, you’ve certainly got stair steps” and I told her that they technically aren’t since two of them are twins. “Oh, these two?” she asked, pointing to Caleb and Moses. I know that Moses is a little big for his age, but seriously? And of course the conversation couldn’t end before she told me that her daughters were born 17 months apart, which, according to her, “was just like having twins”.

The funny thing is that I hear this sort of thing all the time: “my babies were x months apart, which was even harder than having twins” or “my wife had our kids the hard way- one at a time”. Yes, people have actually said these things to me. Now, I am completely in awe of parents of triplets and higher order multiples, and I would never dream of telling a triplet mom that having twins and a singleton is just like having triplets. I’m sure the lady at Wegman’s meant well and was just trying to make friendly conversation, but unless her 17-month-old was nursing, pooping, crying, and spitting up all night long alongside her newborn, I think it’s safe to assume that her experience was nothing like having twins!

Shortly after Moses’ 9-month birthday, we had to retire his infant carseat because we could no longer buckle him into it. Joe managed to squeeze one of the twins’ old UVA carseats rear-facing into the back of the Santa Fe, which has alllowed us to postpone the purchase of a third extra-narrow Radian. The UVA carseat will not fit forward-facing, though, so Moses will probably be rear-facing for a while, even though his weight already qualifies him to sit forward facing. Apparently a growing faction of parents are passionate about “extended rear-facing” since statistics show that children are less likely to suffer injuries while secured in a rear-facing carseat. I guess we’ll just hop on the bandwagon!

Moses continues to be a sweet, calm, playful baby. People are often surprised to see how quiet and mellow he is compared to his rambunctious, loud older brothers. He loves to give us hugs and pats our backs while he’s hugging us. He’s also very generous. When I give him a cookie or a cracker, he alternates between gnawing on it and offering me a bite. If I don’t take a bite, he persists in offering it to me until I do. Moses is also very attentive to detail. If I put on a different pair of earrings, he immediately notices and wants to touch them and examine them closely.

A while back I had my first parent-teacher conference at the twins’ preschool. Let’s just say that a few decades down the road we’ll probably be more likely to find the boys behind a podium or pulpit than behind a pile of books or a microscope. While the boys’ listening and sitting-still skills apparently leave something to be desired, Mrs. Lavergne reports that Caleb and Joshua are exceptionally happy, sweet, exuberant boys who are well-liked by their classmates.

Every day when I drop the boys off at school, they greet each of their classmates with a loud, boisterous salutation: “Hi, Lucy! Hi, Mila! Hi, Connor!” etc. They also have all of their friend’s vehicles memorized, so when they see a small red coupe pull into the parking lot, they know to shout, “Hi Anais!” or when they see a green sedan, they exclaim, “Hi Auggie!” Then, when I come pick them up from school, as soon as I open the classroom door, the boys stop whatever they’re doing and start hopping up and down and shouting, “Mommy’s here!!! Hi, Mommy!!!” repeatedly at the top of their lungs before dashing towards me and lunging at me for a hug. I’ve been informed that prior to my entrance, they likewise announce the arrival of each of their classmate’s parent or guardian, gleefully yelling, “Bryce, your mommy’s here!” etc. Needless to say, from what I have observed, the other children are a lot more reserved than our boys. They’re no doubt happy to see their friends and mommies, but they tend to express their delight with quiet smiles or hugs as opposed to our boys’ raucous cheering and yelling from the rooftops. It’s no wonder that this past week Mrs. Lavergne referred to Caleb and Joshua as “cheerleaders for life”.

While it has never occurred to me that our boys would take an interest in cheerleading, since neither Joe nor I ever fit the “cheerleader” stereotype, with each passing day I gain an increasing realization that there’s no guarantee that our boys will turn out to be anything like us at all. What an exciting journey we’ll have ahead of us as we discover what great and unexpected things God has in store for our little cheerleaders.