Ode to E & What Would You Do (Part 2)

I've been feeling the need to pay a little tribute to our first born in the wilderness. E is such a fantastic kid. It's easy for me to forget how wonderful he is when I feel entrenched in the daily rigors of motherhood. But lately a few other people commented about how funny or sweet he is, and it really made me stop and think and realize how blessed I am to be his mom. Here are some of my favorite things about E:

• He's bursting with personality
• He's very sensitive to others' feelings
• He's not afraid to do his own thing and be his own person
• He's an AMAZING big brother

I worried about how E would handle the girls coming into our family after 3 years of being the sole recipient of Mommy and Daddy's attention. I tried to make simple preparations to help him know that the girls were adding to our family and not taking away from him, but I think he didn't need it at all. He loves A & M so much. T and I speculate that perhaps the reason we were blessed with two babies at one time is because E has both the love and energy to be their big brother.

Feet painting. It's like finger painting... only better!

Cute little colorful feet.

E experimenting with what colors he could make by mixing paints.
I think he made a lovely shade of gray.

E with me outside the movie theater this morning. A nearby theater hosts free family movies Tuesday - Thursday mornings throughout the summer. E and I went on a date this morning to see "Horton Hears A Who". My favorite part was when the mayor of Whoville was called a "boob" and all the kids in the theater laughed. E turned to me and said, "Mommy, what's a boob?" I explained that "boob" meant "silly person" and E then let a hearty, albeit tardy, laugh out.

Waiting for the movie to start.

Advice Needed
Last time that we ran into a few parenting dilemmas we got some great advice and so we're back to solicit more. We have two challenges we're trying to handle at present.

#1: Bedtime = The Never Ending Battle
Since A & M were born E strongly detests bedtime. We still follow his lifelong routine of jammies, brush, books, prayer, songs, but I think he figures that if everyone else gets to be up, why should he have to go to bed? Consequently, he doesn't go to bed. He comes out of his bedroom over and over and over and over and over and over and I'm sure you get the idea. When we ask, or tell, him to get back in bed he usually refuses and one of us has to escort him back to his room. One night we told E that if his little feet wandered out of his room they would get spanked. Mind you, we're not big spankers, so for us to have even said this shows how frustrated we've become. E tried it and we spanked his foot. He cried for about .2 seconds and then came out of his room again. His foot got spanked again and then he asked Daddy, "Please spank it harder." Yeah. We've tried leaving him with a couple books and the night light on so he can gear down and read himself to sleep. That worked for two nights. Not anymore. We put the baby gate up outside his bedroom door so that he couldn't get out. He kicked it until it fell down.
Help.

#2: Ineffective Time-outs
Lately, time-out just isn't getting E at all. He creeps out of his room and constantly calls us, "Mommmyyyyyy!!!!! Daddddddyyyyyyyyy!!!!" We started buckling him in his booster chair and then he'd sit in the kitchen screaming at the top of his lungs. We moved the booster to his bedroom and that works semi-well, but it's kind of unrealistic because we have to move the chair into his room and then buckle him in it. I can't very well do that when T's not here, or when I'm feeding the girls. Is this just a phase? Should we stay the course? What alternative do we have?

I hope these dilemmas don't make E sound horrible. He's an angel 95% of the time, but sometimes, like all kids can, he can be a challenge. We're just feeling a little stumped and wanted some fresh advice from other people.