Pretzel Shapes, a Crafty Critter, and Photography Practice

What do the three things listed in the title have in common? They are all part of Josiah's recent educational experiences!

Tonight the boys and I had a light supper since Jeff was away (at his last pottery class); and at the end of our meal as the boys were munching on these pretzel sticks, they started making letters (and a few words) with them--and for Josiah, that progressed to shapes. He made all the shapes he could think of that only use straight lines: square, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, diamond, pentagon, hexagon, octagon. It was fun to see him work on this project completely from his own initiative. What a yummy way to learn!
After he made all these shapes, he wanted to take pictures by himself of them...so I happily turned over the digital camera to him and let him snap away. Most of the pics turned out blurry since he usually stood about an inch from the object of his photography! But he was so pleased with himself for taking them and he actually asked if I would put all of them on my blog. Well, I'll spare you that; but I did want to include the above picture that he took which I like because it shows me his point of view. Sometimes I forget that he isn't as tall as I am, and I expect his "world" to look like mine...when it clearly doesn't! :)
In this picture, Josiah is holding a crab that he made a few days ago out of a seashell, some modeling clay, some pipe cleaners, some googly eyes, and (of course) some paint. Josiah is always thrilled when he gets to paint something!

And now, for a report on my own educational experience, entitled "What I Learned Today."

I learned...that there are actually sweeter words that can come from Josiah's mouth than "I love you, Mommy." When he says looking across the dinner table to his little brother, "I love you, David. I love your beautiful eyes," I realize that to see Josiah's sibling love grow is truly more refreshing than me being the object of his affection. I guess this is because mommy love seems so natural to a child, but brother love (when said brother has been known to take your toys, invade your space, and divide your parents' attention) seems harder to cultivate. How many prayers have I prayed for my boys to get along and be great buddies? How many times have I anguished over their seemingly endless ridiculous conflicts? How earnestly do I long for them to be lifelong best friends? Countless prayers...unspeakably deep longing...and now to see a glimmer of light in their relationship is truly sweet. I'm not so naive as to assume that all will be joy and harmony from here on out! But I do feel encouraged by Josiah's expression of brotherly love today.