The good, the bad and the ugly

I don't actually have pictures depicting all of these words (because who takes pictures in the moments I'm about to describe!), but I do have a lot of explanation on how our little man is good, bad and ugly!....

Life with a toddler (and two older siblings) is exciting, entertaining and downright exhausting. We have good, we have bad and we have completely ugly. Let's start with the good...

Lincoln is certainly the sweetest little boy I have ever known. 

*He is the first to say "sorry" or "I wuv you" and will try to make you smile when he knows you are upset. 

*He is quick to lend a helping hand, and enjoys helping in the kitchen, shoveling the driveway or putting away groceries. 

*He is genuinely concerned when someone is hurt. The other day Ryan slid down a few steps (likely due to his recent surgery) and Lincoln came running to be sure he was ok. He grabbed the items in Ryan's hands and carried them all the way down the stairs for him!

*And he always always always needs a big huge goodbye hug before I go.

And along with the good, we have to balance it with the bad. 

* He loves to tease his sisters, whether it means going into their rooms when asked to leave, touching them in the back seat of the car, or destroying their play area. 

* Although completely potty trained, he will intentionally miss the toilet, spraying his yellow water all over the bathroom floor. Laughing. 

* He likes to dump all of his toys from every room with zero intention of actually playing with them. And not just dump in one spot, nope, this kid likes to throw things clear across the room. 

And then there are the moments, in pure toddler form, where he is downright ugly!

* Like when he picks up his plate and tosses it clear across the room, with food flying through the air. 

* Or runs around the house, racing up to each person and using their legs (or something in that general area....) as a punching bag, darting away faster than anyone can catch him to stop the cycle (this turns into a disaster giggle game for him). 

* Or when he takes a bite of food, chews it up, and then spits it on his sister sitting next to him. Yes, he really does this. Poor Sidney. 

There certainly are days where he tests our limits and we are so grateful when bedtime rolls around. I have to remind all of us that these ugly moments won't last forever (thankfully!), and we just need to ride them out, stay consistent, and remember that the good far outweighs the bad!