Random Thought for the Day

The Ice Cream Truck just drove by, and instead of playing a normal ice cream truck song like "Pop Goes the Weasel" or something it was playing a song I finally recognized as the theme song in the movie Love Story.  

'Cause nothing gets the tots more excited about eating neon colored popsicles in the shape of SpongeBob like classic seventies romantic dramas.  

Happy Birthday Fin

My boy!  My baby boy.  You turned four today!  You've been so desperately and patiently waiting for this one.  This is the first year you've really grasped the whole idea.  

"Mama is it my birsday yet?"  

"No babe, not yet."  

"How many more preschools till my birsday?"

"You go to preschool three more times and then its your birthday."

Almost immediately after you were born we decided you were exactly like your dad, and everyday the similarities between you two become more and more pronounced.  Superficially you share a few qualities, though I think most people wouldn't say you look exactly alike.  You share the same giant long-lashed green brown eyes that crack my heart in two (whether it be Daddy's or your eyes I happen to be staring into).  You also share a mean underbite that gives you a toothy goofy grin.  But the greatest similarities between you too are your personalities.  Your Nanny has taken to calling you "You Little Josh Thing You."  In your Nanny I've found the greatest sympathizer in my trials and tribulations with you.  Not that they are many, but it is nice to have some one understand what it is like to have a four year old in a complete panic because the exact tiny accessory from your tiny tiny toy just happens to be missing, and no that other thing will not work!  This amazing attention to detail is equally fascinating and frustrating for a freewheeling mama like yours truly, and I frustrate you as much as you do me.  Just like Dad, you love scary things, are thrilled that it is Halloween time.  Every time we go to Target you have to stand at the end of the aisle as I push all the buttons on all the "scawey" decorations.  You're too terrified to come close, but you have to see it, and always walk away reassuring yourself, "Yeah, those are just a widdle bit scawey."  You love the thrill of the roller coaster, and are ecstatic to finally be tall enough to ride them.  You only want to read the dinosaur books with the "scawey" dinosaurs (the ones that look realistic, no cartoons for you). 

You still possess what seems like the endless capacity to remember any tiny thing that has ever happened to you.  At your aunt's wedding you instantly recognized a family friend as someone who had visited us. Once.  When you were ONE.   I could write a whole post on the insane things you remember.  But my favorite part of everything that you remember is how you recall it to me.  " 'member yesterday Mom, she came to our house?"  Doesn't matter if it was three hours ago, last week, or two years ago, it always happened "yesterday."  This crazy memory of yours sometimes leads you to think that I don't always know what I'm talking about.  On a car ride to Gammie and Papa's house you spent the entire car trip pestering me with questions like, 

"Are you sure this is the way to Gammies.  I don't fink it is.  I don't fink this is the right way.  Are you sure we hab enough gas?"

As we pulled off the freeway and you finally recognized where we were, you laughed at yourself, "Oh!  You DID know the way!  I didn't fink you did."  and rolled your eyes at your doubt.  

You are the sweetest four year old.  We got you giant building blocks for your birthday, though we had talked all week about you getting a K'Nex Rollercoaster (which I couldn't find to save my life).  You were excited about the blocks but soon asked about the roller coaster.  

"I looked, but I couldn't find a roller coaster for you."

"Oh.  You could only find the one that was too much money?" (we'd seen an expensive model at Target the day before)

"Yeah.  But I'll keep looking okay buddy?"

"Okay Mama!"

Ten minutes later you came to find me as I walked out of the bathroom you threw your arms around me and said,

"Sanks for buying me those building blocks Mama." 

No one had told you to say that.

You are so kind and patient with your sister.  She adores you and thinks you're the absolute funniest thing in the world.  Whenever you sense that she is upset, you always immediately start making funny faces for her, or reassuring her.  Nine times out of ten, if you want something she has, or is she wants something you have, you take the time to find a toy for her and adorably talk it up so she'll be excited about the other toy.  "See Sissy, you can hab the green car and I can hab the blue one! Yeah!  Now we bos hab one!"  and invariably she agrees.  Sometimes when she's sleeping you feign surprise and say, "Oh!  I fink I heard Sissy.  I'll go check on her."  just so you can wake her up to play with you.  For your birthday she picked out a slinky for you.  She was excited so she gave it to you early.  On Friday I asked what you wanted to do since it was almost your birthday.  You thought and then said, "Ah!  I hab an idea Mama!  We can go to Target and get Sissy a slinky, den we can both hab one!  Yeah, that'd be a great idea!"  You always "hab an idea" and its always a "great idea!" whenever you want something.  You keep me on my toes trying to keep two steps ahead of your ideas.  

"No, we can't go to the train today, Mommy doesn't have enough money."  

"I hab an idea Mommy!  We can go to the bank, and you can get money and den we can go on the train.  Yeah that'd be a great idea!"  The best part of this whole "idea" game is your face after you've presented your idea, one of complete and utter shock that you have come up with this groundbreaking, solves all our problems idea.  Eyes wide, blinking, mouth slack jawed.  

You are teacher's pet.  They all adore you at school.  Even the secretary has a special spot in her heart for you .  Every time I see her, she sighs and says, you're son is just the cutest sweetest thing, I just love him so.  Our first ever parent-teacher conference lasted about five minutes, because all they could say was that you were wonderful, perfect, just a delight.  I asked, there's nothing else to say, nothing we should work on, or be worried about?  No, not at all.  He's just a doll.  I had to start shuffling papers so they wouldn't see me tear up I was so proud.  And what's not to love?  You have impeccable manners.  You are very smart.  You are kind to the other kids.  You are outgoing and funny and thoughtful.  Just as I struggled to describe your sister on her birthday, I struggle to convey just how amazing you are.  And as you get older and add layers upon layers to your personality and character I just find myself more and more in awe of the amazing little person you are becoming.  I'm so honored to be a part of it.

I love you booger-butt.  Happy Birthday!

My Kids Have a Drinking Problem

Fin walks into the kitchen.

"Ohhhhh!!  What happened to my BEER?!  I just wanted to drink it all the day!!"

Parker chimes in, 

"Awwww!  Wha happened beer?!!  I want it!!"

Next time I throw away the root beer bottle, its going straight to the dumpster.

Early Morning Games

Fin and Tammie came up with a new game this morning.  Parker had put a sock on her hand and was walking around talking about mittens, so of course Fin had to have a pair on too.  When he went to show Tammie she began to tug on them till she had pulled it off.  She would pull it off, run and put it under the table and run back to get the other one.  

When I tried to get a video of it this is what happened:

Parker saw the camera and immediately started posing.  I love her reaction when I tell her, "Not you Sissy!"  The kids and I must have watched this video twenty times already.  Cracks us up.

This is Fin and Tammie playing their game:

Look how gentle Tammie is.  She is the sweetest little thing...most of the time.

Faithfully

Happy Anniversary babe.  I love you.  Every crazy minute.

You must be this tall...

For a long time Fin's only goal in life was to ride a roller coaster.  Ask him what he wanted to do when he grew up, and the inevitable answer would be, "I wanna ride a roller toaster!"  One of our greatest tools in our "get Fin to eat" arsenals was the "don't you want to grow bigger so you can go on the roller coaster?"  Almost always works.  This Sunday all that eating finally paid off for our little man.  While he went on the Tower of Terror ride a while ago, he just so happened to be wearing his cowboy boots, which gave him an extra little boost in the height department.  If you are unfamiliar with the ride, its an "elevator" that takes you up, oh I don't know ten stories or so, where huge doors open up so you can see just how high you are (any maybe find your car in the parking lot) and then drops you all ten stories, all amidst a lot of lightening, loud music and screams.  A woman who was waiting with me for her family (Josh took him on the ride) exclaimed "HE went on the ride?!" when she saw Fin come out.  When asked if he liked it, he said, "Yeah, but it was just a tiny bit scawey."  On Sunday when my uncle asked him if he wanted to go on it again, he politely said, "No thank you."  So I kind of thought the whole roller coaster thing was postponed.  But on Sunday my family decided they wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain, and when Fin found out it was a train, he was all in.  At about 41.5" he was all ready to go.  Thankfully there wasn't a long line.  I think if he had to stand there and watch the train come barreling by he would have chickened out.  We got into our train car, and I pushed that little lap bar as far as it would go and still allow me to breathe.  He didn't make a sound the entire ride, and I covered his ears in the caves (where seriously it was so loud it hurt my ears).  When we came around the last turn and slowed down a bit, he was quiet, then suddenly looked up at me and exclaimed "THAT WAS FUN!!  CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!  PWEASE CAN WE?!"  We went and had lunch, and he pestered us again and again till Josh finally took him on it again.  After that we all headed for Space Mountain.  Same height requirement, and again, no line to speak of, so Uncle Rick took Parker, and we all headed for space.  He sat with me again, and again I pushed that bar down, put my arm around him and held on tight.  As we plummeted and turned and whooshed and whizzed, my stomach sank.  I had forgotten how dark it was inside (we all agreed later that it was darker than it usually was, the track was completely invisible).  I just kept thinking, oh god, I've scarred him for life, he's going to be terrified, he'll never go on another ride again.  As we pulled into loading dock I looked down at him, ready to console him.  His eyes were huge and he was silent.  

"Whatcha think Boogs?"

my heart skipped a beat as he stayed perfectly still.  And then he beamed at me

"THAT WAS FUN!!!!!  YEAH!  These are some rides Mama!  They sure are!!  Can we do that again, can we can we??!!"

I looked back at my mom, and read in her face the same relief I felt.  "I'm so glad he liked it" She said softly as we walked out, "I was so worried once we got in there, it was so dark, I thought for sure he was going to be scared."

"I know.  I did too."  

Sometimes we don't give our babes enough credit do we?