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"!

"And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street"

To the average person, this picture would seem odd. There is nothing artistic about it and all it contains is a seemingly random collection of rocks. However, there is much more to it than what meets the eye. What if I told you that the flat, round rocks on the bottom were actually fossilized dinosaur poop? Or what if I told you that the odd shaped rock on the far left was, in reality, a fossilized dinosaur teething toy, belonging to a larger dinosaur species? And the green and white one in the middle? It was the favorite toy of a small, baby dinosaur a very long time ago and now it has become a fossil. You might say that I'm crazy or delusional at best but that would be if you heard it strictly from me. However, I have it on good authority, in fact from a particular 3 year old little scientist, that it is 100% undeniably true.

Want to hear some more? Because, as many of you can attest, I could go on for days with stories that my little monkey has told me. For instance, there was the time that he came home from preschool at the age of 2 years, 2 months and informed me that he and Tristan (his best friend in TX) were going to steal the school's pumpkin patch, load it on the Boy Scout bus, drive the bus to a helicopter, load the pumpkin patch onto the chopper and then fly off with it. Tell me, where would a child of that age come up with that and be able to clearly verbalize it?

There was also the time that Jesse, Drew and I were headed to Billings. All of the sudden, Drew started screaming from the back that we had to turn around and go home; we had forgotten Carter. After arguing for a few minutes that Carter would be fine at home for a while (and getting absolutely nowhere), Jesse had the brilliant idea to tell Drew to call him. Suddenly Drew was all smiles, "Oh good Carter! You caught up with us...its a good thing you're a dinosaur and you can run fast and you climbed in the window. I missed you!"

I was thinking about these things tonight as I was reading Drew a bedtime story. Before he was born and while he was still a baby, I had all of these preconceived notions about what our favorite stories would be. I was going to read him "I'll Love You Forever" and "Guess How Much I Love You" and "I Love You Through and Through" (which, incidentally I did read to him for a long time and have been quoting it for about 3 years now). Since he's been old enough to have an opinion though, he has always loved Dr. Seuss. The wild and outlandish tales about unidentifiable creatures and far fetched adventures just appeal to his zealous little imagination and best of all is "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street".

This tale about Marko, a little boy with a wild imagination attempting to concoct "a tale that no one can beat" makes me smile. Every time I read it, I glance down at my sleepy eyed but enraptured little man and wonder what his next tale will be. The stories I thought I would be reading are sweet and certainly have their place but when it comes to the perfect bedtime story for Drew we have one that simply can't be beat..."And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street".

Amidst the Noise

Normally, I go about my days with my wild little monkey running around and leaving chaos as he goes. So, when we got our new kitty a couple of weeks ago, I thought that it couldn't possibly be much different. Besides, my heart that has been aching for a baby for so long was just thrilled at the idea of having a kitten to love and nurture. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I'm still thrilled at having gotten a kitten...I just thought there was never a dull moment before...

In the past couple of weeks, Drew has reached several big milestones. Milestone #1 is that he now sleeps through the night!!!! Of course, since he doesn't get up 3 times, he makes up for it by waking up at 6:00 am, proceeding to wake the kitty up and then the two of them unleash all kinds of terror on Mommy and Daddy's peacefully sleeping selves. Its not much like having a baby...more like a preschooler (Drew) teaching his toddler sister (Lady Grey) what fun it is to climb furniture, throw toys around, pounce on Mommy and Daddy repeatedly in bed and screech at the top of your lungs. Milestone #2 is that he is completely out of diapers!! There is really isn't much to say about the cat in regards to this except that she appears to have a freakish interest in watching him pee.

So, the noise level has reached an all time high in recent days. I fight the urge to stay on top of Drew about not chasing the kitty because it turns out that she quite enjoys it and takes it rather personally when I make him play on his own. They even played football the other night. It went something like this: Drew would stand in one end of the room, he would chuck the soft, mini football (hey, I'm not completely retarded) into the other and then he and Lady raced to see who got there first. It was quite amusing to watch but even more amusing was Drew's prayer that evening. "Dear Jesus" he said, "Thank you for my new kitty! And Jesus? Please teach Lady Grey to know how to play football the right way so that she knows to catch it with her paws...Amen!"

At the moment, Drew is at preschool and the roofers are tearing apart our damaged roof. What is normally a quiet time, is not. Judging from Lady's literal attempt to climb the walls, I'm anticipating that between the roofers, the 3 year old monkey and a wild child of a kitten, I'm in for a rambunctious, loud, and quite possibly FANTASTIC day!