Hunger is as hunger does

You seem to always be hungry, even if you are only for pb&j and bananas. You frequently lie in bed and yell, "I am hungry!" until some unwitting soul (probably Becky) takes pity on you. Typically we insist that you come out to eat if you're waking up, but if it's the middle of the night and we're truly exhausted, you get to eat a piece of really boring plain wheat bread right there in your bed.

 

Right now you are in your bed after napping. Becky tells me that you are lying there and just yelling "I'M HUNGRY!"

We need to talk

This whole potty-training thing is a bit of a nightmare. Unfortunately, you are very much like me. NOT stubborn at all.

 

I have to remind myself daily that you might have my force of will, but I've had 23 years to hone that strength, whereas you are just a n00b at age 3. My prayer for you is that you use your stubborn streak for good. I picture you as a tall, handsome, but most importantly good man in twenty years. You will be the kind of man that opens doors for women regardless of how independent we all claim to be. You will know how to change your own oil but also how to make a mean spaghetti sauce from scratch.

 

Nurturing you to successful adulthood seems so impossible when we're heatedly debating whether or not you should have to wear underwear versus a diaper.

 

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." So I'm putting in the dirty work now (sometimes literally) so that you will be the amazing man I dreamt of when you were still just a flutter in my abdomen. We'll get there.

You seem to exist entirely on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We sing a song as I prepare it, I call out "Peanut, peanut butter..." and you respond with "AND JELLY!" from another room.

Side note...

One of your favorite people in the whole world is your (aunty) Becky. She's my teenage sister and from the moment you met two weeks after birth, the two of you have had a very special relationship. When she first held you, the whole world held still. We were picking her up from the airport so she could meet you for the first time. She picked you up (I had you tucked inside my jacket sound asleep) and her whole face softened. You took a rough edged, concrete young teen and turned her into a big softy. She loves you SO much!

When you took to calling her Bad Becky at about a year old, she wore the name as a badge of honor. You didn't give anyone else a nickname, so it was special. Now you call her just plain Becky but still worship the ground she walks on. She asks you endless "why" questions just to get you to respond in your grownup, exasperated tone with, "Stop it Becky."

Amazing little man

Yesterday I called you from work just to chat. Right now you're staying at home with my sister until you start preschool (OMG!) next month... so I get to talk to you whenever I want. When I called you I could tell you were rather bored (you're not used to getting to watch so many cartoons). I asked you if you wanted to know where the Play-doh was and in an almost breathless voice you told me, "Yes mommy! I do! I do!" I gave you instructions on how to find the Play-doh and heard only a faint "I found it!" before the thud of the phone hitting the ground.

If you were anyone else, I'd be hurt that Play-doh is more important than talking to me, but because it's you, I was just pleased that you were having fun.

One of the best days EVER

You were quite the brave little man this weekend. You spent the morning as a chicken (full costume) at Seaworld. That same darn pilot whale tried to soak us again during the dolphin show, but my handy sweater protected us. You and I hid under my sweater and giggled while everyone around us screamed when the ice cold water hit them. Your aunty Becky got hit, which just added to our fun.

After we rode a couple kid rides and you scaled a rope net (still in costume), we hit the road for our next stop - the ice skating rink. On the way we stopped for some chicken sandwiches at Chick-fil-a, where you introduced yourself to a table full of policemen. You have a fascination with policemen that I try not to discourage since you never know when you might need to depend on one.

When we finally made it to the ice rink, you were rearing to go. We strapped some skates on you and I held my breath as you teetered onto the ice. Imagine my shock when you took to the ice better than me at first! Thankfully we had trusted Aunty Becky to hold your other hand because I was less dependable on the ice than anticipated. You hit the ice a couple times as we dragged you around the rink, but you fought tooth and nail to keep going. It was not an easy task to get you off the ice when we were finished for the day.

From the ice rink, we proceeded to our final fun stop, the pumpkin patch... duh duhn duhn. I saw a horse trailer from the freeway, so I had a feeling it would be an intersting trip. You practically flew to the pony ride and picked out the biggest horse in the bunch. Such a change from the little boy who wouldn't even ride a carousel horse a few months ago! After a quick pony rid you went on a couple LARGE inflatable slides and drove a jeep in a circle for a while. Then, you spotted it! They had a harness hooked to bungee cords and suspended over a trampoline. Kids were flying through the air and doing tricks midflight. You HAD to do it too!

As your slightly skeptical mum, I stood in line with you for nearly half an hour, expecting your attention span to be breached at any moment. But you continued to stand there, very seriously clutching your tickets and asking the attendant if it was your turn. When it finally was your turn, I rather nervously strapped you into the harness and cringed as you started to bounce. You LOVED it! Your giggle was non-stop. Finally I reminded myself that I am a mother of a boy, so I grabbed your feet, pulled you down to the ground and launched you up into the air. Now this was fun! After a few all too short minutes of being a human slingshot, the attendant brought you down to earth once more. It was one of the most fun things I've ever experienced, so I can only imagine what it was like for you.

Seaworld - $0 (we have a pass)
Costume - $0 (bought it on sale at Old Navy last year for $5)
Ice skating - $9 (for whole family of 4 - thank you groupon)
Chick-fil-a - $6 (meal for 3 - thank you Readersteals)
Pumpkin Patch - $20 in tickets (YIKES!)

One of the best days EVER

This morning I continued our new routine of pulling you out of bed rather than trying to wake you up gradually in your own cozy bed. You immediately wrapped your arms around my neck and snuggled my neck. Talk about heart melting! As I changed you, you started to do your fake cry routine, but couldn't play it off today and instead giggled off and on throughout me dressing you.

Last night we had dinner with my best girlfriend, Aunty Kat. I think you annoy her when you ask her over and over where her boyfriend is, but you like him more than her. She does outlandish things to impress you (like the time she ate a lemon) but you are an excellent judge of people and seem to be able to pick out the ones that genuinely like kids. She's fantastic, but tiny people aren't her thing.

You, my darling, are not a morning person. I believe you get it from your daddy, because I am an early bird. This is the one personality trait of yours that I cannot accept blame for. You regularly whine, "Please mommy, just leave me alone" when I attempt to wake you at 6:30. This morning I tried a new tactic. Rather than singing our good morning song (Goooood morning, good mooooorning, I missed you all night through) and being my chipper self, I simply wrapped your blankets around you and swept you up into my arms. As I carried you to my room for a quick cuddle, you kept saying (half asleep no less) "I love you soooo much mommy". What a relief after months of "mommy leave me alone!"

 

So doodle bug, I love you soo much too. Even if you are a night owl who would enjoy being a lazy lie-a-bed all day. Heaven help us when you're an actual teenager!

You once complained to me on the drive home from the babysitter's house that a monkey stole your yogurt and ate it all. So obviously you were hungry and needed frozen yogurt to make up for the regular yogurt the monkey stole. Your babysitter was troubled to find out she had monkeys in her house.

Trading places

"You are my Dooooooodle Buggggggg, you are my Dooooooodle Buggggggg..." keeps coming from my backseat. I frequently call you my doodle bug, and now apparently I am your doodle bug. I'm not complaining.