Incident, Requiring Bath

Good grief!  Hibiscus started spinning around violently with a water bottle in a strap thingy, trying to hit the neighbor boy, but conked Buttercup in the head instead.  Which was a result one could have predicted a mile away.  Then Emerson was practicing roller skating and pooped in his pants.

I hear that parenting multiple children is easier when they are not all the same age, and not all toddlers.  Not that I would be able to tell, with my houseful of giant toddlers!
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So now Emerson is in the bath, which was apparently painful because he has some scrapes on his back.  He was crying about it, and Buttercup in the main room was asking why he was crying, and I said he had owies.  Then we heard Emerson yell for Buttercup to "come here!"  I wondered if I had heard right, that he meant Buttercup and not me, but off she trotted while I peeled potatoes.  Next time I checked, he was happily bathing and talking with his little sister while she sat on the bucket-stool near the shower.

A few minutes later he called out that she was getting wet, and I called back that I didn't mind.  Now I can hear their happy conversation and the gentle sounds of water once again.  Now it sounds like Emerson is asking for help with something, and Buttercup is doing it.

I just love seeing their relationship develop.  I am so pleased to see that Emerson has found a hole in his life, that can only be filled by calling his little sister to come join him in the bathroom.
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Hibiscus has been on a Sit on the couch this entire time.  I told her that I knew she wasn't trying to hurt her sister, but she really really needs to think about things before doing them at full speed to other people.  So she needed to sit and think, and no company (removing the little one).  She's been looking at coloring books calmly for a while now.  I just asked her if she was ready to get up, and she told me no.  Twice.  Then the other kids wanted to do coloring books too, and she told them to go 'way, she wasn't allowed to talk to them right now, she needed to be left alone.  I guess there are benefits to learning to sit quietly.
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Now I have just finished getting them both cleaned and dressed, and they're laying on the bed next to each other, looking at books.  I went to clear up from the bath, and Emerson even put the soap back in the soap dish!  Maybe he's managing to make it past toddlerhood, after all.