Growth.

Sheesh.  My baby is growning up and I'm not too sure I'm all that happy about it! 
The boy has just about outgrown every pair of jeans that he owns!  This morning, I helped him get his clothes out for school -  as he pulled the jeans on I could tell they were a bit snug.  He couldn't snap them...."Mom, can you get this for me?".......let's see.....ok, suck it in......uh, no.  Too short and too tight!
To make matters worse, they were semi-new!!  (read: they didn't have holes in the knee)
Did he have a growth spurt that I missed?! 

Speaking of growing up.....

We took our new camper out for our inaugural camping trip this weekend!  We didn't go far, just up the road 20-30 minutes to FDR State Park.  Lovely place, lovely weather.  We hiked, biked, fished and roasted marshmallows over the fire.  Oh, and the boy found a girlfriend. 

Our campsite was across from the play area, so my Social Butterfly son spent a good bit of time over there playing with the other camp kids.  When he wasn't at the playground, he was whining that he wanted to go play with his new friends at the playground.  We soon found out why. 
Her name was Abby.  Or Addie.  Or Allie.  Something like that.  Anyway.  I believe it was love at first sight.

After breakfast Sunday morning, we heard the sound of kids on the playground, so he asked if he could go over to play.  He got dressed, then asked if his hair was still sticking up (he had a bit of The Bed Head going on).   I told him yes - did he want me to fix it for him?  Yes, please.
So, I moistened it a bit and tried to make it behave, which led to nice flat wet hair.. 
I asked him if he wanted me to dry it a little with my hair dryer.  Yes, please.
A few knowing looks over his head to the Daddy and we were done.
"Is it ok, Mom?"
"Is it flat?" 
Yes, baby.  You're perfect.

And just like that, my baby grew up.  He wanted to be sure his hair was ok before he went out to meet his 'friends', particularly, one girl.  As we watched through the camper screen, he walked toward the playground and the kids flocked to him.





We were thinking, though.  Our Social Butterfly who worried so much about whether his hair was flat, never thought to brush his teeth. 

Maybe I've got a few more years yet?

A day or three in the life of a boy

This n' that.  Bits n' pieces.  Here n' there over the past few days.



Thursday:
Little man piped up from the back seat to tell us that he'd volunteered to be on the Student Council at school. (2nd grade student council??) He said that when his teacher asked for volunteers,  he and two other boys stepped forward. He said if he wasn't chosen as a representative, he might still get to be the alternate when the rep wasn't there. 
So proud he wants to help!   Now, my question is, what kind of decisions will second graders be making? I can just see it now......Recess! Candy! No school on Mondays! Hamburgers every day!   :)

*update:  found out last night that Ben was not chosen to be on the SC.  They had three volunteers but only two positions, so somebody had to be the losing candidate.  Broke my heart when he told me that he didn't get enough votes.   He did tell me: "I voted for myself, is that ok?"     :)
Maybe next time, sweetie.  



Sunday morning:
A friend from church passed on a little tidbit of information to me from Children's Church.  During the lesson, the leader asked the kids what their feelings were when they saw a homeless person.  Obviously, each child gave a different answer - feel sorry for them, or wonder why they're homeless, etc.  Ben's answer?  He said he thinks, "maybe they could come and live with me".





Sunday night/Monday morning:
At bedtime last night, I asked Ben what he'd rather do in the morning:  ride the bus or be a 'car rider' to school.  (On Mondays & Fridays he has a choice because I don't work on those days.  FYI - there's a BIG difference in the time he - and I - have to get up depending on which mode of transportation he chooses.)  His answer last night was to ride the bus.  Joy.  Not the answer I'd hoped to hear.....that meant we'd have to be up by 6am. 
Goodnight kisses given, I head off to the kitchen to get the coffee pot ready for my bleary-eyed-morning-self.  Then it was off to bed for me.
Fast forward to this morning.  Awakened by the alarm, I stumble my bleary-eyed-self into the kitchen to the coffee pot.  Pour myself a cup, take a few sips (ok, half a cup) to clear the cobwebs, then head in to wake the child. 
Let me just pause here to ask, is there anything sweeter in this whole wide world than a sleeping child?  Even this wild, loud monkey boy that smells like a billy goat most of the time is a vision of angelic peace when he sleeps.   Ok, picking up where we left off....
I crawl into bed with my sweet sleepy child,  say his name and tell him it's time to get up.  He stretches and then doesn't move again.  Has he gone back to sleep?   I remind him that if he wants to go back to sleep and just let me take him to school, that he could sleep for another hour - but if he planned to ride the bus, he needed to get up now.  
My sweet baby then turned to me and asked me if I wanted to go back to sleep.  When I told him no baby, I'm ok - he said he'd go ahead and get up too. 
We headed to the living room couch where he joined me for an early morning snuggle.  40 minutes later, we were still there as the schoolbus stopped out in front of the house. 
We ignored it. 

I love that stinky, wild, billy-goat-smelling, monkey boy.

bad dreams

Alarm clock read 7:00am.   Little man was already awake, but not out of bed yet.  Kisses and good morning hugs given, then he told me he'd had a bad dream.  When I questioned him about it, he told me that there were three 'bad guys' in the garage and he couldn't get away from them.  Their crime?   They "had written on Daddy's truck with a crayon".
  
He was very brave though, he said he'd kicked them in the face and then closed the garage door. 
When we told Daddy about the dream, he and Ben went out in the garage just to make sure they were gone for good.  Nope, no sign of them! Guess they knew not to mess with my little man anymore!

of chivalry and oral hygeine

While visiting (and enjoying every minute of it!) a friend's blog this morning, I came across a sweet post she wrote about her Gentleman-in-Training, Jonathan.  It reminded me of my little man and his first demonstrations of chivalry yesterday.

We were leaving for church; just the two of us -  Greg had gone earlier; and, as usual, we were running late.  Most of the conversation consisted of:  "hurry up....go brush your teeth!....why aren't you dressed?......shoes?...where are your shoes?.....no, you can't take your DS to church.....did you brush your teeth?....please brush your teeth!......did you brush all of your teeth?.....let's go....let's goooo!"   You know, a typical Sunday morning. 

I grabbed my purse, keys, etc.  Ben got his little bag that holds his Bible, and a straw.  Yes, a drinking straw.  I don't know why, he just did.  Into his mouth it goes.  (maybe I should afix a brush to it so I don't have to remind him forty times to brush his teeth)

As we walked out to the car, he's his usual chatterbox self; but as we made our way around the front of the car, he paused at my door, shifted his bag to his other shoulder, and opened the car door for me!  Then he proceeded to his door, stopped and smiled at me - complete with the straw sticking out of the corner of his mouth.  What a gentleman!  I gave him a quick squeeze, kiss and thank you, snatched the straw out of his mouth, and away we went to church. 

When we got there, we gathered our things and walked (somewhat) together to the door.  Reminders of: don't run in the hall, don't forget to give your tithe envelope to your teacher, be good in class, etc.  We get almost to the door, when my little gentleman rushes ahead, opens the door and holds it for me!  Another quick hug and kiss for my sweet boy - who is immensely proud of himself, by the way. 

Looking back over yesterday morning, after typing this out;  I see that an awful lot of the morning was spent with me saying "don't do this...don't do that....behave....remember not to...."   I should temper my reminders with a little more praise.  He didn't have to be told to open the doors for me, he just did it, out of the kindness of his heart.  All the correction and rushing and do this! don't do that!....was it needed?  Is that what he's going to remember?  Mama was always harping on me to do something or other? 
He was just being himself, a little boy.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

And besides, these baby teeth are all gonna fall out anyway, right?

Good morning

Woke the little man this morning with a kiss and a back scratch. 
The usual: "up, down, over" directions started long before all the cobwebs were cleared. 

Scratch.  Direct.  Rub.

"No, Mom!  Scratch!"    Oops.  Pardon me, sir.

More directions:   "down, down, down".   Down to the perfect little boy bottom covered in tighty whities. 

"I am NOT scratching your bottom, mister!"  as I poked it with my finger. 

Giggling, he said, "That's not my botttom, Mama, those are my bottom boobs!" 

No, that's not a word we normally use. I've heard him say it before referring to my, um...lady parts....and have corrected him immediately, but this morning I didn't.  I laughed. 




I'm probably gonna regret that.

Sushi, anyone?**

Ugh. Had a most enjoyable morning. Thanks for asking. Got up at 5am to get ready for work as usual on this rainy Friday morning, but soon after the first sip of (heaven sent) coffee, I - excuse the tmi here - had to go potty. Ah, yeah.

So 30 minutes later, I decide I should call into work to let them know that I might just possibly be a wee bit late. Made my way upstairs to get ready and woo hoo, here we go again. 15 minutes later I'm back on the phone waving the white flag. Nope, this gal ain't gonna make it in today.

Go straight for the medicine cabinet. Um.....Immodium? Anyone, anyone?

There it is. When did these things become horse-pills? Anyway, pop a couple and go back to the bedroom to plant myself back in the bed. Since the daddy has been out of town, I've had a visitor in my bed. An early riser, no less. Guess who's awake and watching 'Wow Wow Wubbzy'. Loverly.

Smile......."I'm hungry, mommy". gag

"Ok, sweetie, what do you want for breakfast?" gag/bleckh


"I want waffles without the chocolate* and chocolate". ugh

Smile......."Mommy, why don't you fix you somefing and me somefing and bring it up on a tray? gag

"Oh, sweetie, mommy feels like she'll throw up or crap her pants if she puts anything remotely like food in her mouth, but thanks."
Well, ok, that's what I thought in my head. What I really said was, "Mommy's not hungry right now, sweetie, but I'll fix your waffles and chocolate and bring it up for you." I'm sweet like that.

So, down the stairs again. My guts are having a great time. I've never had an alien in my gut, but I think this morning I can relate. Something is going on down there, and it ain't good.

Back up the stairs with little Lord Fauntleroy's breakfast tray, climb back into bed and pray he doesn't want another waffle. Soon, breakfast is finished and little man says the most wonderful words in the whole wide world......"mommy, I'm still sleepy." Ahhhh. I love this kid.
Lights off, tv off, covers up and it's back to sleep for both of us.

*I buy an assortment of frozen waffles for quick breakfasts for little man. One of the most recent purchases was a waffle that's half chocolate, half vanilla. Disgusting. But he eats it and it's supposedly 'fortified'. Whatever. So, when he asked me for a waffle without the chocolate, he means a plain waffle. The second chocolate is chocolate milk, of course. What else would you drink with a waffle and syrup but chocolate milk? gaaaaaagg

**Oh, forgot to explain the sushi, anyone? title. Yesterday evening I took my visiting in-laws to a local sushi place. Nope, never been there before, but everyone that is anyone says it's the best in town. Blah, blah, blah. Not sure if that's what cause my GI distress or not, but I'd be willing to bet it had a hand in it..........

Breakfast Plans

Time for bed.
Good night kisses and hugs given.
Snuggles and cuddles.
Lights out.
Covers up.

Stalling tactics begin.

"Mommy, in the mornin' after sleepy-time, do you fink you can make me some eggs and toast for breffast?"

Sure baby, I'll make you whatever you want for breakfast. Now it's time to go to sleep. Shhh.

"Mommy, when you make my eggs and toast, do you fink you can call me and wake me up and tell me it's time for breffast?"

Um, yeah, sweetie. I can call you for breakfast. Do you mean just call you from downstairs and wake you up? note how his diabolical plan is working - mommy has already forgotten that she JUST said shh, and go to sleep....keep her talking......
So, you want me to let you sleep while I fix your breakfast and then call you to come eat? must clarify plans, God forbid that I get a step wrong in the morning

"yes, Mommy-sweet-roses." that's my new name, btw. He's evil, I tell you......evil!!!!!

Ok, baby. Mommy will fix breakfast and call you to come downstairs to eat. Now, go to sleep.
You're mommy's sweet angel....'night night.

"night Mommy-sweet-roses."

Fast-forward this morning. 7 am.
Child wakes up first. Starts wiggling, but very quiet. hmmm. Could mommy sweet roses crack open one eye before being caught? Nope. Not a chance.

*smile* Whisper: "mornin', mommy", "can we get up now?"

Mm hm. You still want me to fix you breakfast and call you, since you're already awake and all?

"um, yeah, but, can you fix my eggs and toast and put it on a tray and bring it up here? you can fix me some chocolate and sit with me and we can watch my shows".
"does that sound like a good idea?"

Sounds like an excellent idea. So that's exactly what I did.
He's evil, and he has me brainwashed.

Good morning, mommy

This morning, just like every morning, I'm got a sweet early morning hug and kiss from the sweetest boy in the world. All sleepy-eyed, scratchy voiced and warm from his bed; he's hanging onto his daddy's back before going downstairs to get breakfast and get ready for school.
Kisses and hugs and a "good morning, mommy", then he says, "Mommy, last night I had a dream about getting kisses on my lips from you." I melted. Right there on the floor. In a puddle.

This kid, this kid.

Sweet.