"When You're a Rock Star..."

We've pretty much always known that we have a little rocker on our hands. So, for his 2nd birthday, I decided it would be a good idea to get him a drum set, an electric guitar, and a microphone. They were a major hit but within a few short weeks, Drew had blown out the drums....sad day.

Knowing that Kait was moving to CA and taking her piano and keyboard with her, Mom and I decided that Drew would probably want a keyboard of his own for Christmas...it worked out, especially since we ended up moving to Montana...although I can't speak for my neighbor's opinion of the situation.

A couple of months ago, we decided to get him a snare drum to try out before we get him another drum set. You should hear the kid's rhythm. I should add that I'm currently teaching him quiet vs. loud so that there's some variety!

The boy loves his instruments so we've also added a harmonica and tambourine. You're probably wondering where the funny story is...trust me, its coming. In fact, two of them are. I'll start with the first.

Our local library has a Storybook Time every Wednesday. We started going to it the first week we were in town. The children's librarian (Robert) a sweet older man, with white hair and goatee, and an acoustic guitar plays some songs and sings to the kids and then reads a couple of stories. Although I don't know him very well, he seems quite the gentle soul. Imagine the shock of the library then last Wednesday as Robert prepared to begin and Drew jumped up and yelled out, "Come on Mr. Robewrt! You wrock de guitar and I'll wrock de dwrums!!!" He then started banging out a rhythm on a nearby table and yelling, "Wrock on!" Apparently, we need to work on appropriate situations for an impromptu rock concert.

Second story, Saturday night we went with some friends to hear a new band. The band opened up the floor towards the end and Drew charged up to the stage. He started off jumping around and dancing, while cranking out the air guitar. That was funny enough...it got better though. All of the sudden he stopped and listened for a second. Finding their performance unsatisfactory, he proceeded to critique them, pointing to each band member one at a time and then tapping his foot in a different manner. The thing is, he was right.

I guess some of you might find it strange if you walked into my room while I was putting on my make up. Drew and I have the same conversation multiple times a week. "Mommy, can I have some of that?" as he points to the eyeliner. "No babe, not now...but when you're a rock star you might need some. We'll talk about it then." To me, as I survey my living room filled with various musical instruments and the weekly request for an upgrade or different one altogether, it just seems common sense.

Beyond Blessed

I'm not a very patient person, especially when I know what I want. There is a particular facet of my life about which I have always known, without a doubt, exactly what I want. I want kids, lots of them. In fact, Jesse and I joke that our goal is to rebuild a couple of dilapidated sports teams with our offspring. So, when things don't go as I hoped or planned and it seems that its taking so long to add to our family, I have to make myself stop and think. I look at pictures like the one above and remember just how blessed I am. Some of you may beg to differ but I truly believe that I am the mother of the most beautiful and amazing little boy.

I remind myself that I get to spend most of my days like in the picture below, swinging at the park, taking long walks, digging in the dirt and reading Dr. Seuss. That's when I realize, if for some off the wall reason, I were to never have another child, I would still be beyond blessed. I have an amazing miracle, a "gift from God" as he would say. I have something that no one else in the world has, I have Drew.

Another round of Drew-isms

- The other day I was on the phone with my best friend. A glance at the clock told me it had been a while since Drew had made a trip to the potty. I told him it was time to go, to which he responded, "Mom, I can't wight now. My need to pway nakey soccer." I responded that he could play naked soccer after he went potty - thinking that he was just running his mouth to kill time. Apparently not. He came out of the bathroom stripping and proceeded to kick the ball and run all over the house stark naked. Ah, the advent of a new sport.

- This was posted on my fb wall but for those of you who may have missed it. Drew was headed out to run errands with Jesse the other day. I asked him if he needed his ball cap since he wears one almost constantly these days. "No Mom," he said, "I have a head."

- On the subject of errands, after dropping Jesse off at work Drew asked what we would be doing next (Now what we gonna dos?). I reminded him that it was nap time. "No, Mommy! I a big boy...I could run ewwands!"

- Sitting across from him on the couch Sunday, I saw that he had Bop-Bop (infamous blanket) cradled in one arm and his Bear in the other. He was holding Peter Pan and looked up at me, "I'm weading to my babies, Baby Bop and Baby Bear."

- Along that same strain, before every bite he took at lunch today, he attempted to cram some into Alvin, the chipmunks mouth. "I have to feed Baby Alvin," he said to me calmly.

- Yes, he's still obsessed with babies. So much so that last month when I wasn't feeling well and asked him not to jump on me, he crammed his hand down my shirt, started feeling around and yelling, "Its cause you have a baby in your tummy? Do you? Do you have my baby sister in there?!?!" He was not pleased with the answer. I may soon have a revolt on my hands.

- Lately, he's heard talk of houses while hanging around grown ups. Yesterday, as we took a stroll to the park, we passed a house that I really liked. Apparently, he liked it too. On our way back, he let go of my hand and headed up their driveway. I quickly grabbed him and got him back to the sidewalk where he said, "But Mommy, we sayed we liked that house. I was going to see it!

Hmm, time to wrap it up but as always, I'll give you one for the road.

- This morning he was playing with his big trucks in the living room. As I watched, he picked up his keyboard (a Christmas gift from my parents), turned it over and laid it at an angle so that it was propped up on one end. I asked what he was doing to which he responded that this was a hill. I reminded him that it was actually his piano and that wasn't a good game to play with it. He gave me a sympathetic look and said, "No, Mom...its weally a hill." Sometimes I'm certain that he thinks I'm mentally inept.

Camo Hats and Stick Weapons

Most days I'm beyond thrilled that I have a child that is so thoroughly all boy, no one can deny it. Last night when Drew got ready for bed and he was wearing his camo hat with his pajamas, I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. When he turns our entire apartment into a Tonka truck vs. Matchbox car demolition derby, I smile at the epic noise level and go about my business.

For those of you who knew me growing up, this probably doesn't come as too much of a shock. Aside from the prissy ballerina side, that is most definitely there, I spent much of my time running around with my brother's friends. Thus, I'm not exactly a stranger to the male fascination with bodily functions and beating each other up.

Its that last part that catches me off guard on a fairly regular basis. I feel like I'm constantly replaying the same few audio clips, "We don't hit!" "Its not nice to hit!" "Why did you hit him?!?" As I asked my mom yesterday, "Please tell me that at some point social functions won't end with us leaving because my child hit someone!?!?" She, of course, reassured me and gave the sage advice that I so often need.

Don't get me wrong, its not like Drew is some terroristic two year old that parents should steer their children away from. He's actually sweet and affectionate and runs to hug his friends when he sees them. (Of course, they often flinch as they see him coming...not that they don't want the hug, Drew just towers over most kids his age.) Eventually though, the boy nature just kicks in. Someone takes something that he thinks is his or invades his space and the territorial nature emerges. Sometimes, its as simple as deciding that an awesome sword fight is in order...and by sword I mean a giant tree branch that a child his age has no business being able to lift.

So then my dilemma arises. I've never really minded the pillow fights, wrestling matches, sword fights, football or hockey games going on all over my house and flying toys are something I've become accustomed to. Drew's always played rough with his daddy, his uncles, his Geeda and at times, even me. It seems though that at his age he can't really distinguish between wrestling with his Daddy or wrestling with his best friend. There may also be some confusion between a safe and relatively harmless foam sword and a gigantic tree branch.

So here is the question: How do I continue to let him be a boy but try and keep the rough play to a minimum...at least for now. I know at some point, most parents say, "Boys will be boys" and they aren't so concerned about rough play but let me be clear, those parents are (generally speaking) not the parents of cute little toddler boys. Seriously, I'm open to suggestions.

The Beauty of Improv

I was sitting on the couch earlier this afternoon, trying to finish up a book, while I encouraged some independent play time. Suddenly, I heard a loud rip. I glanced down in the floor where Drew had been coloring and flipping through the current Pottery Barn Kids catalog. His fascination with those things always amazes me; so after I finish flipping through and daydreaming, I pass them on to him. Anyway, back to the rip. Apparently his all-boyness had kicked in and he was demolishing said catalog piece by piece. I shrugged my shoulders, reminded him that it would have to be cleaned up before bedtime and went back to reading. It was just going to get thrown away and in the meantime, he was playing on his own.

15 minutes later, I surveyed the damage. The entire front half of the living room floor was covered in PBK scraps. I probably should have been slightly annoyed but much like the tissue box incidents the summer before his 1st birthday, it amused me. What had formerly been a mere PBK magazine was now a potential art project. Armed with some construction paper, scissors and glue, I settled down in the floor. My little artist ran around grabbing his favorite scraps, telling me what he wanted cut out more and an hour of fun later...we have our masterpiece. Drew, of course, finds himself utterly brilliant and is delighted that his new work will be displayed in the gallery (i.e. the refrigerator). That my friends, is the beauty of improv... seizing the moment, running with what you have and in the end, entertainment for all.

Mommy Moments

Today has been a day of moments to step back and realize...yep, I'm most definitely a mommy. It started at 1:00 am when the precious monkey decided he couldn't sleep and then at 3:45 am when he decided to kick his wall and scream bloody murder and then continued on when I unfolded myself from the pretzel that is required to sleep in his bed with him at the sound of my alarm.

I hurried to get ready so that I would have time to do some dishes before our adventure filled day. We had a new experience today; Drew and I made a joint trip with my friend Ashley and her 2 year old, Jim, to Wal-Mart. Now this may sound like a rather boring outing to many of you and most are probably wondering why we would plan a day around it. However, going to Wal-Mart is at best a 25 minute drive over the mountains. When you add in two 2 year olds who are having a yelling competition in the back seat and one stop to change a poopy diaper plus a 15 minute potty break upon arrival at said destination, it begins to get interesting.

The fun continued as Ashley and I scanned our lists. About that time, both boys started yelling, and shouting requests for snacks, sippy cups, toy cars and needing "to hold you." I should clarify, that this does not mean that they actually want to hold us...they are, in fact, requesting for us to push the carts, read our lists and hold THEM, all at the same time. Anyway, I digress. We quickly realized that our first stop was the gardening center. Once again, I should clarify; despite the fact that between the two of us we have zero knowledge of gardening, Ashley's husband had decided that we should go in search of everything necessary to start a vegetable garden. Yes, yes, I can hear many of you laughing at me from miles away.

By the time we had secured at least enough stuff so that Justin could see that we had made a valiant effort, the cries and begging had escalated to astronomical levels. At that point, I snatched a bag of trail mix off an endcap, ripped it open and filled those little jacket pockets with raisins, almonds, and M&Ms. That taken care of, we made a bee line for the Matchbox car aisle, where thankfully, someone had the intelligence to package individual cars of all shapes and sizes for a mere $0.97 (I cannot tell you how many of those I've bought).

I'll fast forward through the search for grey legging ($3 on clearance) and the stocking up of sippy cups and diapers (why does something our children poop in cost so much?). That brings us to the grocery side. At this point, Jim decides he isn't a fan of the trail mix anymore. So Ashley grabs a package of string cheese (it is actually on her list) and tears it open to give him a stick. Unfortunately, its virtually impossible to give one of these kids something without the other partaking so she tosses me one for Drew. As they munch on their cheese we race through the grocery section, when suddenly they realize that maybe they picked the wrong Matchbox cars (too bad). We get to the end, only for me to realize that I forgot to grab Tupperware, which just so happens to be on the other side of the store. I race off to grab some as Drew yells, "NOOOOooooooo, I have to stay with JIM!!!!!!!!!" I ignore the yells and the stares...We finally arrive with a sigh at the check out.

Afterwards, Ashley and I realize we're starving and so we stop to eat before we get back on the road. As we're wrestling with both boys trying to make them stay in their seats, it suddenly dawns on me, "Ummm, Ashley? They probably aren't hungry...THEY ate all the way through Wal-Mart." No, they weren't hungry but they did want the toys that came with their kids meals. One problem, they were two different toys and one was infinitely cooler than the other. I looked at Ashley and grabbed both toys, marched up to the counter and calmly asked the wide eyed kid at the register if he could give me matching toys. He glanced at the ruckus coming from the corner booth and said he'd be happy to.

After clearing up our corner of destruction, we loaded the boys back in the Durango and hit the road. About 5 minutes later, the toy flying and yelling started. Then Jim managed to unbuckle his harness (lets just say that at that point, we pulled over). On the road again, the yelling and seat kicking continued. Ashley and I turned up some Praise and Worship (really loud), talked over it and completely drowned them out. Jim was asleep within 5 minutes and Drew was in a glassy eyed comatose state.

We were enjoying the quiet and talking about plans to take the boys hiking and to play down at the river this summer when suddenly we stopped. Ashley looked down at her swelling, pregnant belly and the look on my face was as easy to read as Go Dog, Go, "I'm hoping to be pregnant by then!?!?" If we are going to cut it in this mommy world, we are definitely going to have to step up our game. There are only two of them now but there will be three by this summer and by next summer, hopefully four. Finally, we made it home somewhere around 2:00 (we left at 10:00).

At home later this afternoon, I sent Drew to the potty. He came running back in tears. Somehow he managed to drop that brand new Matchbox car into the toilet. I think we all know what I did. I shoved my hand into the toilet, found the bleach and a few minutes later handed that car right back. This mommy life isn't for the birds...I better get busy eating my Wheaties and spending a WHOLE lot of time in prayer. On that note, it sounds like a small flood may be going on in my bathroom....

Oh That Boy!

It looks like today is going to be another compilation of Drew funnies. He has been cracking me up today and I don't think I could possibly focus on one instance. So, here we go...in no particular order. :)

Drew and I were wrestling around on my bed earlier. "Lay down and pe-tend to go sweep Mommy." I asked him why, to which he responded, "So I can go get my sword and smack you wit it."

I poured his water out of a "big boy cup" and into his sippy before his rest time. He proceeded to throw himself in the floor yelling, "No!!!! Not dat cup...I'm going to have to run away!"

I walked into the living room to see him coloring. He was talking up a storm, "Dis is Jesus. He's a wittle boy. Dis is God. Dey are fwiends."

I love how he refers to chicken nuggets as "Chickens" and will ask, "Mommy can I have chickens for wunch?" So cute!

Earlier today, he was determined that Bop-Bop (his sacred yellow blanket) be folded up like a towel. He carried it all over the house like that and came close to a panic attack anytime it came unfolded.

While "helping" me make the bed, he managed to undo everything I had just done and then proceeded to hide under the covers...this led to the previously mentioned wrestling.

He ran around pretending to bite Jesse and I this morning yelling, "My eat you up I wove you so!"

He was pretending to play hockey earlier and every time he got his ball in the goal, I would yell "score!" One time I didn't. He came up and leaned very close and in the most pitiful voice said, "Mommy, you no score the goal."

He calls his tambourine a "cam-or-ree" and an ambulance an "amby-lance"

Ok, well I guess that's it for now. The munchkin just came and asked for supper...although he seems to think it should involve putting peaches in the oven...hmmmm.