Third Child Syndrome

B is our third child.  Our third boy.  There are five years between he and Zac, seven years between he and Sam.  He wasn't an uh-oh baby, we planned on him.  We just didn't plan on him when we were planning the first two.  He was a delayed plan. 

There are lots of little snags in our delayed plan.  First of all, we had gotten rid of almost all the baby stuff.  But the one that I remember most is that we forgot stuff a lot.  We had already grown accustomed to everyone putting on their own shoes and packing their bags to go places.  B had more shoes than he'd wear because we'd get some place and look at each other quizzically, "Did you grab his shoes?" Not I.  Not I.  Let me run into Target and grab another pair.  It is worth noting here that we didn't put shoes on him at the house because he'd throw them off in the car anyway. 

We almost always got places with the diaper bag.  It just didn't always have what we needed inside - like wipes or diapers or formula. 

Over Christmas break, I discovered another thing that slipped through the third child crack - Build A Bear Workshop. 

Since I had boys we were regulars at BBW.  But it was a special treat a couple of times.  Once Sam made a dog, picked out a Buzz Lightyear outfit for it and named it Buzz Barkyear.  BBW holds a special place in my heart.  I loved watching the boys in there. 

For Christmas my momma gave each of her grandsons one of my daddy's watches.  One needed to be repaired but the first place she took it couldn't do it but referred her to a place in the mall.  We dropped off the watch then headed out to cruise the mall while it was repaired.  This mall doesn't have a BBW store but they had set up a large kiosk for the holidays. 

When B walked by, he was amazed. "What is this?" My heart sank when I realized he'd never built a bear.  I explained it to him and off he went. 

choosing

adding filling

prepping the heart

inserting the heart

finished product

shopping for brothers is more fun with a friend

And again, B taught me a lesson - don't count him out.  During the prime bear building years, he couldn't handle it.  Without really thinking about it, I had written it off as something he couldn't do because of his autism.  Wrong again, momma.  My boy does things on his timeline.  He was older than our other boys when he built his first bear but he loved it just as much as they did.  I am so thankful B reminded me.