Day 14... all you need is love

After our big day yesterday, we decided to take it easy today.

Vladik slept until 9 this morning... so much for not being tired. :-)

After everyone had breakfast, I put Joe and Vladik to work in the yard and flower beds, picking up sticks, pulling weeds etc. They didn't last very long. Vladik probably would have stayed out longer if Joe hadn't whined so much about it. "It's hoooooooot.... I'm thirrrrrrsty..... My back hurrrrrrts.... My eyelashes hurrrrrt."
Well, not that last one, but you get the idea.

It *was* hot and humid this morning, so after about 30 minutes, I let them go inside.

The boys had a great time playing and goofing off this afternoon. They each stuck sofa pillows up their shirts and commenced playing "chest bumping sumo wrestlers."  It was pretty funny to watch and even funnier to listen to. They laughed so hard, they all ended up with belly aches.

Joe gave Vladik a sticker today....the single hand sign language for "I love you." Whether he meant it or whether is was "just" a sticker, I don't know. But Vladik wore it proudly for the rest of the day. It was cute listening to Joe explain how the position of the fingers represented each word.. I... love... you.

After putting Joe and Kyle to bed tonight, I talked with Vladik about stealing. The look on his face made me think he was going to try to deny it, but he never did. Of course, he never admitted to it either; but considering where I found the items.. there really wasn't a point in trying to deny it.
He understands our position on the issue of stealing now, and hopefully that will be the end of it.
But I'm still going to be checking.

I tuck Vladik into bed every night. Hugs, kisses, the whole nine yards. (He says prayers with the rest of us when we put Joe and Kyle to bed.)
Tonight, for the first time, he said "I love you, Mom" as I was tucking him in. AND... he said it in English!

I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the way I dealt with the stealing incident. No yelling, no anger... just a simple discussion of why it was wrong and how we felt about it.