Happy Birthday Sweetest Boy

Little man,

You're sleeping now. You breathe in and out. Your eyelashes, so long and soft, still and quiet on your sweet face. Your beautiful mouth is open a little; sometimes you speak a word or two straight out of your dream - what is your dream tonight, baby? Could it be dinosaurs or Transformers, Power Rangers and fighting Bad Guys? My little man - you're always the Good Guy - keep the town safe. Sweet dreams, little man.

I remember the very first time I saw your beautiful face. You came into our home and into our hearts in the arms of one of God's special angels - and our lives haven't and will not ever be the same again.

Your light shines so brightly it's sometimes blinding. Your spirit fills the room. I watch you from a distance and see the changing expressions on your face and am still amazed at this gift God has given us. I see your happiness overflowing even when you are just outside playing, or running for the sheer joy of running; your energy is abundant and contagious. I see your eyes sparkle and your entire face break into a smile when you run from home plate to first base - your batting helmet too big, wobbling on your noggin - you sneak a peek at the bleachers to see if I'm watching. Yes, baby. I'm watching - I'll always be there to cheer you on - whatever you choose to do. I love to watch you and Daddy give each other high-fives when you make it to first base after taking a serious whack at the t-ball.

I love your voice - silly and serious, early-morning hoarseness, or late-night sleepiness - my favorite words in the whole wide world: "hey, ma-ma". If I could bottle that sound and have nothing else to hear the rest of my life, I'd take it and consider it enough.

You made our life so sweet when you came through our door. You're loved so much, my little man. You celebrate your birthday this week and we celebrate with you. You're a whole hand now! You're going to be 5 years old. Unbelievable. My fairy tale happily ever after has reached another precious milestone. I thank God for this; I thank God for you, my one and only sweet little boy. Your Daddy and me love you so, so much.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet 5 year old.

I love you,

Mommy

Brownies ARE good for you, aren't they?

"mommy, can we make the brownies?"

"hey, mom....I thought you said we could make the brownies tonight..."

"after my nap, can we make the brownies?"

Ok. So there's been a box of brownies in the cupboard driving my son nuts. True, I've promised to 'help' him make them for two or three days now....but something always comes up. Like bedtime last night. Oh, yeah. It was obviously not a good enough reason for him, but it was way too late to make brownies. So, I promised him we would make them today.

Approximately 15 minutes ago, I asked him if he wanted to go make the brownies now. Yippee! Yay!! Brownies!!! Off to the kitchen we go. Maybe 30 seconds after we get the mix, eggs, water, and oil in the bowl - he's uninterested. Off he goes to watch Power Rangers but not before yelling over his shoulder "I want to lick the bowl!!"

Batter in the pan, pan goes in the oven and I've stolen a couple of licks of the spoon before I call him in (what? yeah, like you don't do it too...) the kitchen. He comes running in smiling, saying: "lick the bowl, lick the bowl!"

I've already scraped the sides of the bowl down to make it easier for him; hand him the spoon and he says: "I don't want it. I don't want to eat junk food".

Whaaaaa?

grumpy nose

Grumpy boy discovered me in the bathroom; trying my best to get a nice hot bath and a little peace and quiet. Ha. Nothing like having an audience for a bath, but that's another post.
He came in on the pretense of asking for a snack. Well, it's almost supper time here, so I said no. Grumpy whining ensues. Lots and lots of it.

It lasted all the way through the end of my bath till I started to dry my hair. He's stomping around in the bathroom, whining and sniffling - he never gets to do what he wants to do...never gets what he waannnnntsssssss.......whiiiinnnnneee, sniffle......whiiiiiiinnnnnneeeeeeee........

Then, out of the blue he says, "I don't like my nose anymore!"

"Why don't you like your nose anymore, baby?"

"I don't like it cause it gets snot in it!"

Trying not to laugh, I said, "But Mommy loves your nose!"
"Even with snot."

"I want to get it taken off! I don't want it anymore."

So, I turn around and ask, "Um, how do you get your nose taken off?"

"I don't know, I guess you have to get the Nose Directions and see how to do it!"

I had to ask.

Big boy school

Yesterday was a big day around here. Yesterday we registered the sweetest boy in the whole, wide, wonderful world for Kindergarten. Yesterday we walked right up to the elementary school and signed the papers. Yesterday we made our very first trip into the place that, with time - will take all the vestiges of 'babydom' from me, er, from him....oops....
He'll move from his preK, where I can still see and believe he's still my baby.
This place will begin the process of moving him into the little boy- that will turn into the big boy -that will turn into the man that he will be. Oy. I can't even begin to think about it.

And can I tell ya that my little guy was (3 ft in the air) excited to be there???? He was thrilled to no end to be in his new school. He wanted to meet the principal - can ya believe it??

So, I kept him home today from preK......my baby stayed home with me. And I loved it.

Hey, batta batta........!

And how was your weekend? Mine? Fantastically great, thanks for asking!
We woke up this morning to a bright, beautiful, sunshiney day - just a little chilly when wind would blow - but perfect for the first t-ball game of our little mans life.

Had a wonderful breakfast cooked up by the sweetest hubby in the world; eaten a little too leisurely, I guess, because we had to rush like whirling dervishes to get to the field by 10:15. The team came together on the field and got the final piece of their uniforms - new caps with their names/number embroidered on the back. Now, they're officially a team. And boy are they cute.

We weren't able to have practice last Saturday because of all the rain we had in the area, so the guys really have had only had one practice - at which, part of the time was taken up with pictures and just trying to herd 9 little boys into one small area - heck, some didn't even know how to put their glove on or throw a ball, much less the intricacies of playing the game. But, there's a schedule to keep, so off we go to the field.

Scrappers (yea!) v. Mudcats (boo)

The Scrappers got to bat first. Um, lemme pause a sec here. The coach said prior to the game that the players would bat in order of their jersey number. Ok, no problem there. Hmm...
Little man is number 8. One kid out today due to illness so that leaves our little guy batting last. All the other players got to hit and then run the bases - unless they were tagged out. Last batter up in the inning is our little hero. He hits (great job, btw!) and runs to first.......inning over. He never got to run past first base!!! Grr....not fair.
Mommy was not happy.

Mudcats at bat next. If I say so myself, our little guys did a much better job than they did. Got two real outs the first two at bats for the mighty Mudcats. But who's counting? I did notice a meltdown in the (not so) mighty Mudcats dugout that lasted through the bottom of the inning. One little guy obviously did not want to be there. Hey, there's no crying in baseball!
Sorry. Had to.

Mudcats did pretty well hitting, but inning over. Scrappers out in the field had done an outstanding job. I noticed our little hero plodding back to the dugout with his head down, shoulders slumped almost to the ground, hands just dangling loosely: the picture of the downtrodden. Assistant coach, aka Daddy, stopped him just as he came to the door of the dugout and said something to him. Not sure what it was, but it didn't sit well with our guy. Now, we've got ourselves a meltdown in the Scrappers dugout. Clean up on aisle ten. Off I go to the dugout to see what was going on.

Seems the problem lies in the fact that he didn't get to get to the ball. The coach had placed the players out on the field and would move them from time to time to let them get a little experience everywhere, but the ones in the outfield never really got a chance to do much - the balls weren't gonna make it to the outfield when they couldn't even hit it past (or to) the pitchers mound. So, he was understandably upset. I talked to him and let him know that everybody would get a chance to get the ball, he just needed to wait his turn. Meanwhile, back at the game, the Scrappers were up at bat. #6, #7...and hey, bud! it's your turn at bat! Tears are wiped and off he goes to bat. Swing!! Whaack! Ruuuuuuuunnnnnn, Bennnnnn! Off he goes to first. High-five with the first base coach, aka Daddy - again. Then: inning over. GRRRRRRRRR.....

Scrappers take the field. One or two batters later for the Mudcats and then little man gets his chance to head to the pitchers mound. He was thrilled! His whole demeanor changed. You could see his face shining with the smile that took over his face. And he.was.ready. I'm tellin' ya.

Batter up! Sa-wiiiinnng! Smack! GEEEEETTTTTT IT, Beeeeennnnnn!!! Woooo Hoooo! He stopped that ball like a pro!!!!!! Now, what to do with it? So, with shouts from the coaches all around, he starts to chase that little Mudcat around the field. I've never laughed so much. He tagged him somewhere between first and second base after a very circuitous route.

No sign of the dejected little baseball player would be seen in the park the rest of the game. Just giv'em a chance to get to the ball and he's happy.
And so is his mommy.

---Had special visitors to the park today to watch the first game of the season: our little hero had his Nanny and Pop in the stands. They got a much coveted thumbs up from the field when he took the pitchers mound.
Thanks for making the trip, N and P!

Boys have a.....

Just got home picking up little man from school. His teacher said, "he said the funniest thing today''. Uh oh.

Seems that one of the little girls has a rash of some sort on her, um.....hmm. Well, how bout 'thatwhichshouldbecoveredbyundies'?

Evidently this was the topic of conversation out on the playground this afternoon, so of course the little girl pulled her top up and pants down to show this rash to her friends. Little man included. Not one to keep such things to himself, little man ran to his teacher and said,

"Miss Katie, ****** just showed me her penis!!"

Yeah.

Maybe a lesson in the subtle differences between a boy and a girl would be appropriate?
Glad his daddy is coming home tomorrow.

Wonka-poopie?

"Mom-my! I stinkied!!!"

Now, that is an announcement I enjoy hearing. Mostly because that means I don't have to clean up an "accident" in the undies. Yeah, we're still dealing with accidents from time to time. Boys.
Oh no, we can't be bothered with going to the bathroom to do our business when there is playing to be done.

So, off to the potty I go to see what I can do to help with clean-up duty. joy

I find one completely naked boy - leaning over, both hands on the toilet seat; perusing the results of his 'efforts'.

"look, Mom! the circle one looks like a gobstopper!"

Niiiiice. I sure hope that wasn't what Willy Wonka had in mind when he came up with the everlasting gobstopper. Ewww.