Devotion

I've always heard that there is just something special about little boys and their mommas.  My little monkey is definitely a case in point.  Several months ago, he proposed for the first time.  I told him that Mommy couldn't marry him even though I loved him bunches and he let it go.  He informed me a couple of months back that he had decided that when Gracey (his best friend's baby sister) gets to be a grown up, he's going to marry her because, "I just love her too much!"  Gracey's mom and I have had some laughs over this and informed Gracey (at 9 months) that it's her job to remember how much trouble they'll be in if they run off and get married at 18.  I have a feeling that we'll have to bring this up with her again in the future.

Last week though, Drew had a temporary change of heart.  "Momma," he said one morning with his little hands cupped around my face, "I decided I can't marry Gracey.  I decided I can't marry her because I'm just going to marry you!"  I told him that I loved him very much and that he's the sweetest boy ever but that I can't marry him since I'm already married to Daddy (and mommas can't marry their little boys).  "But Momma," he continued, "if I marry Gracey then you will be all alone!"  I reminded him that he and Gracey couldn't get married for a very, very long time and that even then, I would still have Daddy.  "Oh Momma!" he cried as he threw his arms around me, "Won't you miss me?  I might be so far away!"  I explained that sometimes, when you grow up, you do have to move far away but that of course I would miss him so much and I reiterated that was still a long, long time away.  He sat there thoughtful for a minute and finally said, "Well, I guess I can still marry Gracey then...but do you think maybe she can get glasses like your's when we're big?" 

For my friends who don't have kids yet, the fact that sometimes my breath actually catches when I'm with my little man may seem odd.  For the rest of you, I think you'll agree that the love, admiration and devotion that is so often displayed is, literally, breath taking.  It stops me in my tracks and reminds me of just how blessed I am.  

Escape from Monotony

Look at that face...isn't it the most adorable ever?  Ok, I'm aware that my friends with kids of their own will beg to differ but for the rest of you, you're on my side, right?

Lately, recognizing that our hopes of adding to our family don't seem to be happening in what I consider a timely fashion, we've decided to take advantage of the things we get to do with only one monkey.  Drew (and Jesse, for that matter) gets bored pretty easily.  So, while I'm content at home reading a book or catching some sun in the back yard, they're longing for an escape from the monotony and some kind of adventure.  Our solution was to plan (that part is for me) that at least once a month, we would take off and do something completely spontaneous and fun...some sort of an adventure.  After all, if God choses to bless us with another one, it will never be this easy to be spontaneous again. 

Our first venture in adventure led to a drive to Red Lodge where we saw a group of local kids, with the help of Missoula Children's Theatre (see what they do here: http://www.mctinc.org/About_MCT/Mission_Statement ), perform "Pinocchio".  Afterwards, we headed over to the park where Drew had a blast "boot skating" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gn6cPIBhMY&feature=youtube_gdata_player).  The day was totally unplanned and a complete blast.  

Last Saturday, we decided to drive to Billings which is not all that unusual for us.  While we wandered the mall though, on the hunt for a pair of Chuck Taylors for Drew, we all caught sight of the Build a Bear store.  Drew, of course, was fascinated...although he didn't really know what it was about.  Jesse and I shrugged our shoulders, grabbed his little hands and headed in for some fun.  An owl, named "Turner" now has a new home and it's purchase resulted in some money being donated to a public library (that seems like a "win-win" to me).  

Sometimes, it's as simple as going out and trying a new restaurant...or Drew's favorite, going to eat pizza.  The bottom line is though, we don't want to remember this as the time we sat around hoping for a new baby.  We don't want to just remember monotony.  We have an incredible and adorable little monkey already.  We want to remember this as a time where we had some great adventures with him.  So, we're on the hunt for some more fun.  What's your favorite fun thing to do with your kiddos?

Consequences

      So those of you who've noticed my facebook tonight are probably aware of the fact that we've been working on a little issue known as "consequences" around here.  Let's just say that, as of late, a particular little monkey's intellect and charm have led him to believe that if he is told to do something and he opts not to do it (for whatever reason) then there really aren't a lot of repercussions other than eventually he'll have to get around to doing it...and in the meantime, he gets to play this fun little game with Mom and/or Dad that leads to faces turning interesting shades and increasingly escalated levels of frustration. 

     Today has been particularly trying, so when I asked him nicely to clean up and he chose not to, I realized it was necessary to help him understand that when he cleans up his mess is not up to him.  I told him that we had to leave soon to take Daddy back to work and if he wanted to go play with some friends tonight then he needed to clean up quickly before we left.  Now this isn't a completely foreign concept to him.  Fairly often we'll have someplace to go in the evening and he knows that toys have to be cleaned up before we leave.  So, he looked at me and acknowledged what I said, tossed a couple of toys in the trunk and then started the debate about whether he was going to clean up or not.  Jesse reiterated that all the toys needed to be put away and that it needed to happen now and yet Drew continued to argue.  10 minutes passed, it was time for Jesse to had back to work and Drew had not cleaned up a thing.  So, Jesse calmly said good-bye and headed for the door. 
     
     It took all of about 2 minutes for Drew to realize Daddy was gone and he was still standing in a messy room....and then it hit the fan.  Screaming, spitting, kicking, name calling...this child was not happy and wanted the entire town to know.  Staying as calm as I could, I put him upstairs in his room and came back downstairs.  After about 20 minutes of toys being chucked at the door and violent screams, the storm started to calm.  You may be wondering why I've felt the need to share this.  It's because it leads into a hysterical (and yet educational) conversation about consequences that left me struggling to breath and maintain a straight face at the same time.  It went something like this:

"Drew, what happened? Why did you get so mad?"
"Well, I get so mad because you are not obeying me," he retorted.
"Am I supposed to obey you?  Or is it your job to obey me?"
"It's my job to obey you," he said with a grumble.  "I angry because I wanted to go play with my friends so I'm just going to go do that now," he said as he tried to push past and get down the stairs.
I informed him that he wasn't going anywhere and he sat back down to talk to me.  "Drew, do you understand what consequences are?"  Blank stare.  "Consequences are something that happens when you make a choice.  If you make a good choice, then there are good consequences.  If you make a bad choice, then there are bad consequences.  Did you make a good choice or a bad choice when you wouldn't clean up?"
"I make a bad choice," he grumbled again.
"And did something good or bad happen because of that?"
"I want to play with my friends!!!!"
"Ok, if I touch the stove and it's hot, what is going to happen?"
"You burn yourselfes...and you could go to the hospital and that's bad," he said with a serious nod.
"Yes, so that's a bad consequence.  What if you sleep all night in your bed?"
"I get smiley faces!!! Is that's a good consequences?" he asked with a gesture.
"Yes, it is!" I replied, happy to see he was catching on.
"And if Daddy doesn't get much sleep and then he's grouchy the next day, then that's a bad consequences too!" he shouted.
"Well, yes...that is an example too.  Ok, so when you didn't clean up, was that a good choice or bad choice?"
"Bad," he quickly answered.
"And was there a good consequence or a bad one?" I continued.
"A bad one."
"Ok, so now you can't go play with your friends..."
(Insert wailing and gnashing of teeth...)
"...What you can do is clean up the mess you've made up here and then clean up your toys downstairs.  If you do that, it's a good choice and you will have a good consequence like staying up a little while and watching Veggie Tales.  If you don't clean up, then that is another bad choice and the consequence is that you will go straight to bed, right now.  Which one are you going to choose?"
"Hey!  Consequences sounds like Quincey!!" he said excitedly.
"Yes but they're different.  Quincey is a little boy.  Consequences are something that happens after you've made a choice...remember?  Now, which one are you going to choose?" I insisted.
"Ummm, I'm going to make a good choice now and clean up!"
"Good choice!  And then we can watch a short movie while Mommy is baking."
"Yay!!!" he cheered.
(I headed downstairs.)
"Hey Mom??  Don't touch the oven...that'd have a bad consequence!"

     I thought my blog was done and was just about to post it.  I was pretty well convinced that he had a pretty good understanding of consequences until a few minutes ago.  I told him it was time for bed and that I wanted him to go pick out a book and get in bed that I would be there in a just a minute.  I reminded him that this was a way he could make a good choice and then there would be a consequence and happily waited to watch him scurry off to bed.  That didn't happen and now he's pitching another fit in his room. I know parenthood isn't always easy and as frustrating as this is, there will be something equally adorable that happens tomorrow.  So, I'm counting to 10, praying for wisdom and I'm headed upstairs to take another crack at it...it's got to sink in eventually, right?

An Interview with Batman Drew

Recently, Drew was given a toboggan hat that has Batman symbols on it. Donning said hat, transforms him into a snarly faced super hero known as "Batman Drew." He gets so into character that a couple of weeks ago, someone was praying for him and he kept interrupting with, "My name's Batman Drew...Batman Drew. Did you hear me? I said it's Batman Drew." Interesting how hard it is to keep a hand clamped over the mouth of a squirming child...

Anyway, recently he has agreed to a couple of interviews so that the world can have a better understanding of the magnitude of his powers. The latest one, I thought I'd record here so that you all could get a glimpse into the most fearsome 3 year old super hero that the world has ever seen.

M: What is the most important thing that everyone should know about you?

BD: Just that I AM Batman Drew. That's all.

M: What is it exactly that you do?

BD: I fight bad guys and save people. One time, I even had to save my Dad because some Jokers were trying to get to him.

M: Who made you Batman Drew?

BD: I made myself Batman Drew because that's my job. I have to do it.

M: Do you have a secret identity?

BD: No, I just tell people that I'm Batman; they need to know that.

M: Who is the worst bad guy that you have to fight?

BD: A joker.

M: Let's talk about some fun facts about Batman. What is Batman Drew's favorite color?

BD: Batman's is black...but Drew's is green.

M: What is your favorite car to drive?

BD: I don't have my wallet's license yet. When I get a little bit older maybe I'll do that...wait, dos Batman 'pposed to have a driver's license??

Hold on! I'll be back...I have to rescue some people!!!

(loud jumping, yelling and fight noises can be heard. then he is suddenly back in his seat.)

Sorry, some people needed rescuing so I had to save them.

M: So, do you have a sidekick that helps you when you go to rescue people?

BD: Yes. I have Carter. He is an imaginary dinosaur.

M: What are some of your super powers that help you in a fight?

BD: I'm an expert fighter. I'm good with lots of weapons. I'm super fast, I have strong powers and I can't get hurt.

M: If you could do anything, what would you do?

BD: Rescue people. That's my job to do.

Well folks, there you have it. It sounds like the world is a safer place tonight with such a dedicated super hero in our midst. I feel safer anyway, don't you?

Aardvarks, Large Words and Reckless Sledding

Jesse reminded me of a story that needed to be blogged and since it is rather short, I thought I would go ahead and write down several at once. After all...if I forget to write them down, how am I ever going to write a book about my amazing child? (Stage Mom Much??? Maybe....) So, I have a few more Drew funnies to add to the collection.

A couple of days ago after a nap, Drew was curled up in my lap and rather grumpy. Whether he was grumpy because he was still sleepy or because I had just informed him that we weren't watching TV right then, I'm not entirely certain (maybe both). His blank stare at the remote however, caused him to notice it was full of numbers and letters. We started talking about which numbers and letters they were, when he suddenly jumped up and shouted, "Mom!! I can't be talking about this right now! I can't be talking about this right now because I don't know what an AARDVARK is!!!" I can assure you that despite the fact I was shaking with laughter, the next several minutes were spent in joint research on the computer so that my 3 year old could adequately explain what an aardvark is...should anyone ever ask.

I love the fact that he is fascinated by large and unusual words. He always says them with such an exaggerated inflection too that I can't help but be amused. His newest is "marvelous". As in, "Mommy, this is a marvelous cake. It is the best one I had ever ate!"

Speaking of food, apparently the old saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" becomes applicable at a very early age. Until recently, I have not made an effort to cook a full meal unless Jesse was going to be home and with his schedule at SYC, that doesn't happen very often. I was in the mood to cook last week though and so one night I just cooked for Drew and I. The child proceeded to shovel in an entire plate of homemade macaroni, vegetable medley and chicken (nuggets, that is, since he refuses to acknowledge anything else as "real" chicken) as if he had never seen a full plate of food. He then moved on to climbing all over my lap, hugging and kissing and saying, "You're such a sweet mommy. You're the best mommy ever. Did you know you were so nice??? You cooked a meal just for me and you. Just for me and you!! You're such a nice mommy....you're even the best mommy ever." Clearly, only cooking when Jesse is at home is a thing of the past.

Also a thing of the past is my ability to keep the little monkey's adrenaline seeking behavior at bay. We went sledding at his best friend's house a couple of weeks ago and made a trail with the 4 wheeler and snow plow. He and Jim managed to jump the trail in the sled and were headed straight for the water truck. Jim jumped out, we were all screaming at Drew to jump off and running to try and catch him in time. The boy waited until right before he hit the truck and then just laid down in the sled and slid right under the truck and out the other side! That was frightening enough but being the mommy of a preschooler (and not a much older child), I assumed it was all an accident and he was just as scared as I was. While not wanting him to be scared, I decided that it was probably a good thing it had happened so that he knew to be more cautious next time. Imagine my surprise a couple of days later when suddenly out of the blue he asked, "Mom, how come you guys were yelling at me to jump off? I was just going to go under the truck...that's what I wanted to do." Somehow I'm going to have to come to terms with the fact that this child is genetically predisposed to be reckless and rush seeking. GRrrrr....

At the moment, Drew is running around, armed with a Nerf sword and showing severe dissapointment that he can't seem to unearth any evil doers that need slaying. Not to worry though, his imagination is vivid and his vocabulary is great, I'm sure at any moment this situation will be rectified and more blog material will magically appear.

Dear Man Child

Dear Precious Little Man Child,

I've decided that there is something important you need to know. We focus a lot of time on the fact that you are precious, that you are my gift from God, that mommy always wanted a little boy and I could not be happier that God gave me you. We spend a lot of time on this because it is all very true and always will be. I think it is important that your rotten little self knows why we spoil you so rotten.

However, I seem to have missed an essential detail so far in all of our talks and it appears that it is time to remedy that. You see, just as I am so very blessed (beyond blessed even) to have you, you lucked out in the "mommy of a boy" department. Long before you were born, I was a die hard football fan...and speaking of Die Hard, I believe that it is one of the greatest movies ever. I love just about any action movie (the bigger the gun and explosion, the better). I eat guy food, watch super hero movies, and have no issue with jumping into a game of tackle football. I love boy noise and as you get older, I can easily foresee our house full of boys being fed chili, hot dogs and an abundance of baked goods. I will rough house, sword fight, or play the damsel in distress if needed. I will cheer you on as you run, jump, climb and tackle your Daddy all over the house and when he is working late nights or gone on youth retreats, I will stand in his place (at least until you're 8 and as big as I am).

I say all of this to say, as badly as I want a little girl, I'm pretty well cut out to be the mother of boys. I mean, I even listened to you talking about shooting Geeda's gun over Christmas break without having a panic attack. There is still that one little issue that we seemed to have forgotten though and I guess now is as good a time as any. So here it is, I will never and I do mean NEVER be ok with walking into the bathroom and dragging my pants leg and foot through a puddle of pee. Hit the toilet...or else.

Love,

Momma

When I Get Big

Drew is talking more and more about what he wants to do when he's a grown up or when he gets big. Yesterday was a particular funny day though because he was constantly changing his mind...either that or he is going to have quite a hectic life which will require acrobatic skills that are, as of yet, undiscovered by man.

He started off the morning by saying, "When I get big, I'm going to be a construction worker with Uncle Aaron." (A couple of questions revealed that he was not talking about Uncle Aaron but Uncle Jake. The boy has the frustrating task of keeping straight 3 uncles who happen to look a lot alike.) "Jake can drive the tractors but I'm going to take care of the big dump trucks," he added.

About an hour later, he had changed his mind. "When I get big, I'm going to be a firefighter! I'm not going to drive that firefighter truck that came to preschool though...I'm gonna get my own one!"

After church we were headed home when he started talking about swimming with sharks, and fish and boats in the water. I asked if he was talking about the ocean. "Yes," he answered, "and I'm going to need those flapper things on my feet to help me swim fast." He continued to list parts of scuba gear that he would need and then said, "When I get big, I'm going to swim under water and catch sharks like Uncle Aaron (which he happened to get right that time)."

Jesse was checking the scores of the Bears game while I was cooking lunch. Drew proceeded to say either the saddest, or most promising thing I've ever heard. "When I get big, I'm going to be a faughtball player. I'm going to have a Bears helmet and a Bears shirt and even Bears shoes!" I can't decide whether to be sad that he could have a life of disappointment as a Bears fan or ecstatic that he can be the answer to many earnest prayers from Bears fans...maybe we should groom him for quarterback...

Yesterday evening we were headed to Billings when suddenly he said, "Dad, when I'm a grown up you're going to teach me how to drive. I have to be big though. I'm going to be cuge (huge)! I'm going to be fumongous!" As the mom who feeds this little giant, I'd have to agree with his prediction.

This morning we were back to being a firefighter...the day is early yet though...and his imagination his "fumongous"!