More "Isms"

We have had some cute "isms" around here lately from M. Just a few:

• Callepittar (for caterpillar)
• As a matter in fact
• This toy is not cooperating with me! (that always makes me laugh)

I think it is amusing how having a child is like having an external recording of your own sayings and voice inflection. For example, I have been known to say "What in the heck...?" in an irritated tone of voice when another driver does something idiotic. Well, M has picked up this little saying and now I'm trying to unprogram him from saying "What in the heck?" He does a spot on imitation too, has the inflection right and everything. Now that he knows that it bothers me it makes it that much more enticing to say... I guess it is good that I don't say what I really want to say to those people (out loud at least)!

Were you in the Civil War?

This morning, my adorable son asked, "Mom, which side were you on in the Civil War?" I'm not sure whether to be amused that he has not grasped the concept of a time continuum yet or offended that he thinks I might be 140 years old!! I think the first. After all, a few weeks ago he guessed my age as 25.

Lots of people say that having a child keeps you young. I think it can certainly age you. Such as when we are looking for a missing item and M says "Mom, I'll look for it. You have old eyes and I have young eyes, so I'll be able to find it better." What a charmer! Of course, that does not take into account his Y chromosome. Having this chromosome apparently makes it impossible to find ANYTHING you are looking for without female assistance. Being the only female in this house, you will understand that I stay quite busy finding other people's stuff with my "old eyes."

5 year olds are just so cute when they point out that you have wrinkles or that you should really wear mascara all the time because "you will look prettier." That is fine. Since I love M more than anything in this entire world, I probably won't point out his first zit or how funny he looks with braces. But, if he continues to comment on my age-related flaws, I can't make any guarantees.

It's a Small World

When we went to Disney World in January, M really liked the "It's A Small World" ride, much to his father's chagrin. This is not surprising, considering that when I took a 15 month old M to meet up with Grammy, Granddad, and the rest of the crew, IASW was his favorite ride on that trip as well. We have great shots of baby M loving the ride with Aunt H and Grammy. So, he liked it again when we were there in January - although this time, he was much more interested in those hula girls!

Recently, he discovered that we have the song on our iPod at home. This has led to repeated listenings where he will just keep hitting the back button and listen to It's A Small World over and over - and over - again. He also does this sort of dance to it. Being kind, I'll call it a 5 yr old version of interpretive dance. It is really more like a cross between ballet, break dancing and just falling on the ground.

Although repeated listenings of the song are not what I would recommend for anyone wishing to maintain sanity, it is kind of cool that he is learning the words because I do think that the sentiment behind the ride/song is a good one - although we may seem so very different, in many ways we share a lot in common. Seems that it might do some grown ups good to listen to the lyrics of that song more often too!

PS - you should really see him dance to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" song (yo ho, yo ho, a pirates' life for me..) Very funny!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day, in no small part due to my 2 great guys. I do have to say that I think that what a 5 year old thinks you want vs. what you may actually want are kind of funny. For example, as a "special treat" for Mother's Day, M offered to read his books to me while I had breakfast in bed. And, it was a good thing too because he saved me from having to read the Sunday newspaper all by myself while enjoying the delicious breakfast that B made for me. Really, that was a close call! ;-)

But, seriously, in speaking with my friends and hearing about their Mother's Day and what their husbands and children did, I have to say that I find it amazingly sweet how hard some of these guys work to give us a special day. Their plans may not turn out perfectly - or even close to the original plan - but they really try hard to show how much they love us. The best gift I received, in addition to M reading to me while I ate my breakfast - which I really DID enjoy - was when my wonderful, sweet husband thanked me for Matthew. When you think about it, I DID do most of the work for 9 months in 2003-2004, so it was really nice of him to acknowledge that. And, he is a pretty great parent too. But, we'll get a chance to focus on him next month.

Whew - busy Saturday

We have had a BUSY day today. M and I were planning to go to the community festival at his soon-to-be new elementary school. He asked if we could bring along his younger cousin, L, so he could show it to her. He wanted to bring her along "kind of like a sister."

Side note - lately M has been arguing with himself in the mirror during bathtime. I partly laughed this off as "ha, ha - he has no other kids to argue with in this house so he has to just pick on someone." But, then, as usual, I started to get paranoid that we were scarring him by raising him as an only child. Followed by this request to have his cousin join us for the festival, and I was really getting worried.

Back to our day... L arrived and we went off to the festival. They both had a BLAST! Faces got painted, moons were bounced, and balloon animals acquired - in fact balloon animals were acquired twice. The first set popped after touching the grass. This set off a round of crying and lamentations such as the world has possibly never seen. Happily, we were able to get new animals after a short wait. M wowed the firefighters there by naming every single piece of equipment on their truck - seriously, all of it. They were very impressed. The driver followed us around as we toured the truck telling all the other firefighters just how smart M was. Both L and M indignantly set a 2nd grader straight when she dared to suggest that the dandelions they both had picked for me were weeds. "They are NOT!" they both replied. Obviously, this 2nd grader has not yet learned that all botanical "gifts" from a child are flowers, be they dandelions, leaves from a tree or clover. :-)

Then after everyone was good and tired, we headed off to Costco to get some free samples and, oh yeah, a few groceries too. They were both very good in the cart at the store, except when I was held hostage in the cold room for some sort of berries. It seemed any sort would do and we settled on strawberries for our purchase.

Finally, after a long day of adventures, we dropped Miss L at home and headed home ourselves. As I tucked M into bed tonight I asked him about his favorite part of the day. He snuggled up against me and said, "I had fun with L. But, my favorite part of the day was when I got to have special time with just my mommy." Seems that being an only child isn't harming him at all...

Where has April gone?

Wow! We are nearing the end of April and I can't believe how fast time flies. M has only one month of preschool left (forever!). And, although I'm doing a happy dance about no longer paying tuition, I'm a little sad that my little boy is SO grown up already.

This morning, my dapper little guy asked me if he looked like a kindergartener - he was wearing a white polo shirt and nice khaki shorts. The dress code at his elementary school will be similar and he has apparently picked up on it. He had some angst when I told him that next year he would have to tuck in his shirt. "What if I can't? Will I have to go to the principal's office?" he asked. I'm not sure where he learned about the principal's office - maybe in a book. But, yes he did look like a kindergartener - a real grown up child and not a baby or a preschooler anymore.

While this makes me a little sad, I have to say that each and every age has been wonderful with him and I love this age a lot. We have thoughtful conversations and he is starting to show a capacity for compassionate thought - considering what other people's feelings are and how he might influence that.

Yesterday, my sister was having a rough day and M overheard my conversation with her and asked me about it. He asked if we could call her - and we did. He left her 2 messages. The first was very sweet, but the second almost made me cry (and it DID make her cry) - he said "I'm sorry that you are feeling sad. I love you very much." He just breaks my heart with his kindness sometimes. I wish that I could freeze that in him and protect it from what he will inevitably encounter in "real life" that will try to squeeze such compassion out of him.

I love yooouuuu

As I sit here typing this, I'm listening to M sing himself to sleep with a self-styled version of the Nighty Noodles song that we sometimes listen to. The song goes, in the refrain: So, nighty noodles, noodles to you. I loved you oodles, oodlesies too - you know I do.

He is up there singing, "I love you. I love everyone. I love you. I love everyone. I love yyyoooouuu. And, hey mom, when are you coming to bed?"

B is out of town so I'm letting him sleep with me in our bed tonight, hence the need to know when I'm coming to bed.

We had a GREAT day today. First at Home Depot we stumbled across the kids' do-it-yourself workshop and build a birdhouse together. It was a lot of fun and really well organized. We'll definitely be going back to that again! Then, continuing our lucky streak, we found that Rhodes College was having a free carnival today - and the weather could not have been nicer. There were moon bounces, inflatable obstacle courses, games to play, free books and the kids even got t-shirts and balloons. WOW! It was well done and we had a great time. Tomorrow afternoon we are off to the Trinity/Evergreen Easter Egg Hunt. Before that M sings in church for Palm Sunday. It has been a full weekend!