A few days ago, JonDavid was lying in the floor of the living room. I had just gone into the kitchen for a moment when Jacob came running to me and said, “Mom, JonDavid is spitting up!” I stepped back into the living room and saw Skylar grab the burp cloth off the chair, rush over to JonDavid, and carefully wipe his mouth. Now, is this a gender difference or just a personality difference? Maybe some of both, but Skylar definitely has a natural tendency to “mother” the baby. Jacob loves to talk and play with him, but he is not about to clean any spit-up. He will be happy to help by coming and telling me, though. Skylar just calmly took care of the problem.

Jacob is just like my husband when it comes to “spit-up.” Kristin can dive elbow deep into a deer’s belly and be covered with blood…no problem. He can handle bleeding cuts and scrapes, probably better than I do. He is even OK with dirty diapers. But a child’s vomit is enough to send him running. We were travelling last spring and Skylar got sick while we were riding. Kristin quickly pulled over into a parking lot. I got out and went straight to Skylar, which was good since the other 3 adults vacated the vehicle as if a bomb had been discovered. Jacob, who was sitting next to her, was screaming and grasping at his seat belt in desperation. Kristin leaned in and got him out. Then Kristin came around to where I was cleaning up Skylar. He ventured a look inside at her car seat, trying to muster up the courage to help me clean up. He turned to me and said, “I just can’t do it.” So, I stripped Skylar down and he dressed her in clean clothes while I took care of the rest of the cleaning. When I gave the “all clear” everyone got back inside, though Jacob was rather hesitant to have to ride back there with his sister again. Fortunately this is not a common occurence for us!

 It is just funny how different things affect different people. When Kristin killed a deer recently, Jacob was exploring the “gut pile” with a stick, fascinated by the anatomy lesson he was getting from his dad. I stood back as far as I could get by with and feigned interest. I guess it works out though. He can clean up the blood and I’ll clean up the vomit and spit-up, unless Skylar beats me to it.

Jacob, Skylar, and I made these muffins this morning. They are really good–very moist and flavorful. JonDavid even sat in his vibrating seat for a while, so I only had to do a little bit one-handed! If you like bananas, give this recipe a try. It came from Scholastic Parent Child magazine.

3 bananas, mashed

1 egg

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups. To the mashed bananas, add the egg and the melted butter and stir together. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Add the blueberries and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Bake on the center rack for 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.