The Fantastic Fours?

When Jackson was turned two, I remember waiting for the "terrible twos" to start. I waited and waited, but no temper tantrums from my little boy. No screaming and yelling from my sweet little boy. Then he turned three...oh, the terrible threes! Jackson proved that he could in fact have terrible temper tantrums, yell, kick, scream, argue and be just plain old naughty! Now, of course Jackson has had plenty of sweet nice moments in the past year, don't get me wrong. But age three was way harder than anything he could dish out at age two. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think that might all be behind us. Yes, let's usher in "the fantastic fours". It hasn't been an empirical study by any means, but note the following stories as my current evidence:

1. On Sunday I was cleaning the bathroom. Jackson jumped up, leaving his train tracks behind, and asked for a sponge. That sponge paired up with a bottle of Windex and Jackson went to work! He sprayed (and sprayed and sprayed)and sponged the toilet, the wall, his bathroom stool, Abby's bathroom stool, and he even helped me clean the floor. I don't think I have ever seen him so proud as when I told him that he was the best bathroom cleaner helper ever! (and I wasn't lying, Matt never cleans the bathroom!)

2. The other night Jackson insisted on sleeping in the upstairs den on our air mattress. We put Jackson and Abby to bed and went downstairs to clean up. Abby was screaming and screaming. She doesn't usually do this, so we thought maybe we should just let her cry it out. About 5 minutes goes by and she suddenly stops. Then we hear on the monitor, "It's okay Abby, I'm here. I'm right here. You don't have to cry. Do you want me to go get Mommy? I will be right back. I will go get her. Don't cry while I'm gone, ok Abby?" He had gotten up and gone in to check on her while her neglectful parents left her to cry it out! So cute. I went upstairs and tucked both of them back in and everyone fell fast asleep.

3. Abby will not let us help her get dressed any more. Sometimes she can manage to put on her pants on her own. She can do shoes and boots, no problem. But she does need help sometimes, she isn't even two years old yet afterall. The other day we were in her bedroom getting ready and she will NOT let me help her. (She will no doubt NOT escape the terrible twos, but that is another post altogether!) Then Jackson comes into her room. "Here Abby, let me help you!" Jackson says. "Yack" she replies, smiling from ear to ear. He helped her into her leggings, explaining each step as he did it. He then helped her into her top, again explaining it step and step. I think I will be enlisting his help again in the near future. Abby seems to appreciate his help, mine, not so much.

So, what do you think? Have we left the terrible threes behind us and entered into the fantastic fours? Let's hope for yes. I don't think I can handle Abby's terrible twos if the answer is no.