compliments feel so good

if you haven't ever had a 4-year old boy compliment you, you'll have to experience it sometime. it's rather awesome. it's been a few days, but i'm still enjoying the feeling. what's kind of embarrassing is that it wasn't for anything particularly substantial this time. 

i was buttering his bread, and he said to me, "mommy, you're a good butter-put-er-on-er. you're good at that." 

i like to slather it on thick and evenly across the slice. so, yes, i guess i am a good butter-put-er-on-er, if i do say so myself. 

also, these days, he remarks how certain parts of his body are getting larger, like his head, or his one hand, or his toes. it's really really cute. 

4 years and 2 months

our little boy is getting older right before my eyes. the other day, i suggested that he wear pants, and he turns to me and says, "no thank you, mommy, i have shorts."

He stood looking in the mirror the other day and said, "my head is getting bigger, mommy." Not sure what that was in reference to. 

i asked him in the middle of a fussy attitude, "buddy, does fussing and whining ever work?"

he responds, "no. <ahem> mommy, can you change your mind and give me some juice?"

on the other hand, he is still a little boy. a little boy who has peed in his bed approximately 793 times in the past two weeks. that's an exaggeration, but it is about 2 times a night. it's making me a little bit tired, to say the least. i thought it was because of his hand, foot, and mouth disease, which caused a terrible, quarter-sized, thrush-covered ulcer on his tongue. but alas, it's not there anymore, and he's still doing it. *sigh*

also, thank you, Europe for your special HFMD that also affects adults, including me! i got a little sore on my lip and one little one on my hand. and mose and i were business-as-usual the whole time we were contagious. so, you're welcome for the new European HFMD, CDC/Kindercare/Clarkston. you're welcome.

The moment you find out your not invited

To Ms. Yamile's work baby shower:

This is real life, people! 

Triceratops

Mommy, let's be Triceratops. You be the mommy Triceratops, I'll be the big brother Triceratops, Baby can be the baby Triceratops, Daddy can be the daddy Triceratops, and Judy can be the Judy Triceratops.

He snaps like it's no big deal

So, everyone with grown kids tells me with such nostalgia sparkling in their eyes that we need to enjoy this time. How, pray tell, does one do that? I mean, I really do my best to soak in the moments, but I still feel like these kids are growing up right before my eyes.

Not even a couple of weeks ago, Moses was all tucked in bed, but whining about how he wasn't able to snap. I sat down with him and let him know that if he really practiced, he could probably get it before too long. I showed him what my hand does when I snap and helped him move his fingers and thumb the same way I was doing. I never heard about it again.

Cut to this weekend, when he was chatting with Aiden, and he started snapping at the end of a sentence when he got really excited. As if he had been doing it for years. No big deal. He wasn't even showing it off to me that he had learned to snap! He was playing it cool.

*sigh* I feel like I'm missing his childhood, even though I'm watching with my eyes wide open. I'm destined to become one of those nostalgic, doe-eyed parents in their sixties.

On the other hand, only the first time in his whole life, he said tonight, after telling us that we forgot to brush his teeth, "Oh, I have an idea! How about I go to bed without brushing my teeth!" So that kind of sounds like a little kid thing to say. And I'd like him to stay my little buddy for just a little while longer.

"Say 'bulldozer' one more time for Mommy?" 

"Boo-dozer," he acquiesces. 

Kids miss their moms when they're gone

The other day Moses told me that if children lose their mothers they will miss them. I asked him what made him think of that, and he told me that he read a book at school, and I realized after a little bit of discussion, that he was talking about the book "are you my mother?" it was one of my favorites is a little kid so made me smile, knowing that Moses was getting older and liking the same books that I had liked as a kid.

It also made me feel sadness in the pit of my stomach. Thinking about Moses ever being sad because his mother was not there almost made me cry right on the spot. 

Moses, if Mommy ever goes home to heaven before you grow up, please know that you are, and always always will be, my sweet and special boy. The greatest joy in my life is being a mom to you and Eden; everything else is a distant second. I want for nothing more than being able to see you guys grow up and become the people that God intends you to be. I love you so deeply and thoroughly that I think my heart is actually broken from holding so much love in it. You are the one that, in that moment when you took your first breath, completely changed me forever in the most radical and magical way. You made me a mother, a teacher, a nurturer, a healer, a disciplinarian, and so many more things than I can list here. I can't tell you enough, I love you SOOO much (!), now and forever, my son. 

Everything is awesome

Shane, Moses, and I were singing the song from the Lego movie, and we couldn't remember the word after "Everything is awesome, everything is hmhmhm hmhmhmhm..." 

Moses says, "Well, we're all on the same page about that." 

No naps these days

PreK seems to be great, except that I'm guessing mosey isn't able to get the sleep he needs during the 45 minutes or whatever is usually scheduled. So, this happens on the way home from daycare sometimes, which doesn't really do great things for our evenings together, but you know. Whatever. :) he's so cute. 

Polar bears

"Mommy, Simone said that polar bears live in the future. And Ms. Teria didn't say anything. And I said, 'No, polar bears live in the snow.' And Ms. Teria said, "Yes, that's good." 

Will and Hopen

I was surprised to learn that Moses knew the names of the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta boy and girl, Hope and Will. 

Then he told me, one is named Will and the other one is named Hopen. Haha! 

In related news, Moses's new pre-K teacher is named Ms. Farhana, and she has an accent when she speaks English. On his second day, he told me he learned a new way of singing the song Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. He proceeded to sing the song exactly the same as always, and then he interjected (the "new" part): "Go a leetal fosta," after each verse. 

No, buddy your teacher has an accent and she's actually saying, "Go a little faster." She just says it a little differently. 

So cute, right? :)

Also, our great friends the Maloneys paid us a lovely surprise visit this weekend, and Andrew pooped without the potty seat while he was here. And suddenly, we are now free of that dirty old Cars potty seat!!! I'm thrilled!!! :)

4

Today, on his fourth birthday, was the first time I told Moses he looked handsome and he responded with, "No Mommy, I look cool!" 

Indeed, you are quite a cool little dude. :)

A quick cc pancake breakfast before daycare. :)

Only 6 more days

Excerpt from Sandra Cisneros's short story: Eleven

What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t. You open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday, only it’s today. And you don’t feel eleven at all. You feel like you’re still ten. And you are—underneath the year that makes you eleven.

Like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama’s lap because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five. And maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay. That’s what I tell Mama when she’s sad and needs to cry. Maybe she’s feeling three.

Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That’s how being eleven years old is.

You don’t feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you say Eleven when they ask you. And you don’t feel smart eleven, not until you’re almost twelve. That’s the way it is.

*************************

A colleague mentioned the other day that her 3-year old son, just before he was to turn 4, asked her if she was going to miss the 3-year old son. And that comment made me instantly miss 3-year old Moses. I know that little boy will always be inside of our growing young man, but I sure am going to miss him as we see him less and less. He's the little boy that asks me to play cars with him. The little boy that likes to suck his thumb, pinch his belly button, and snuggle with me. The little boy that gets such joy as he sings made-up songs while he plays the xylophone. The 3-year old Moses will always have a special special space in my heart. and i will keep wishing desperately for time to move just a bit slower.

Maybe he's going to be into older ladies like his daddy

(i don't know if i posted a version of this story before, so i'll go ahead and put it up now)

Moses told me he wants to bring his pink seal to daycare so he can give it to Malik because she's a girl and pink is for girls. I asked him to describe her and he told me she has soft skin, and all kids have soft skin. I asked what color her hair is, and he said black. I asked what color skin she has, and he said, uhm, brown. And I asked if she was tall, and he said, "Yeah, she's SO tall, and she has a big head, and big legs! And her head is really really big." And I asked how old she was and if she was his friend, and he said, no, she's in the 5-year-olds class, and she is True's friend. Aiming high, huh, buddy? Going for the kindergarteners. Haha.

Mispronunciations live on!

i know it won't last too much longer, but i still love the ways Moses mispronounces words. it's just so precious. there aren't too too many ways that he seems like a baby, since he's turning into such a big boy, so. i relish in these. :)

Can-bell-ope (cantaloupe)
Distapointed (disappointed)

Papa Troll or Papa Chole (Paw Patrol)
Roond (ruined)
Rahl-rus (walrus)

Potatoes (tomatoes)

in related news, yesterday was Moses's first day of pre-K. he was okay with the idea up until yesterday morning, when he realized that the first day of pre-K was here. he said, "but Mommy, i'm not big yet!!" it was a real concern, and i realized how that feeling of insufficiency/not being enough is a real feeling that can start so young. we coached him through it, and he ended up having a great day. he's a really special kid. he even has new friends in his class (since his best friends, max, connor, clara, and hadley are staying another year in the 3s class). he told me he played with pipes, and he put them together. when i told him that i had never played with pipes, he told me that if i ever stay at daycare with him, he can teach me how to play with pipes. it was so grown up and caring. he's such a precious little man. i hope he always knows how special he is. 

"God makes me strong!"

We were listening to the Christian radio station the other day, and Moses noticed that the songs weren't what we normally jammed to on the way home. One Newsboys song came on and the lyrics go, "God's not dead, He's surely alive, living on the inside, roaring like a lion." 

Moses was intently listening and he told me, "Mommy, God's not dead and he's living in me, right? And Mommy, God roars like a lion."

It made me choke up, and he went on to tell me God is strong like a lion, and He makes me strong because He's strong. "And God loves me sooooooo much, Mommy, even more than you and Daddy love me!!" 

He made me realize that day that faith like a child is really powerful. And also, even though life is really busy, there are some things that are worth taking the time to teach and talk about. 

Even if I were to go home to be with Jesus today, I would hope that Moses and Eden would be able to go on toward even greater faith and knowledge of God's great love and power. Being their mom is such and tremendous honor. I can't believe we get to teach these little treasures of God about Him. 

She's not my teacher!

"So, what was Miss Gayle teaching you in the other classroom when I came to pick you up?"

"Nothing! No, Mommy, Miss Gayle is not my teacher!" 

[pause] "Uh, you know, she actually is one of your teachers."

[growing increasingly emphatic with each sentence] "No, Mommy! She's not, Miss Nakoya is my teacher!!"

[calmly still] "Yes, Miss Nakoya is your teach in the three's class. But when you go to another class, the grown up in the room is the teacher. Today, that was Miss Gayle. Miss Gayle was your teacher."

[falling out with exasperation] She's not my teacher!!!" Etc. 

This conversation went on like this a little while longer until I told him, "Well, you know, I'm a grown up and I know about things like this. It's just true. And I'd also like you to talk nicely to Mommy." 

"Oh, okay, Mommy. I see what you mean." 

And that was it! :) 

That night, we snuggled in Moses's toddler bed together after I put the kids to bed. He snuggled close to me and sucked his thumb, until his little body got heavy and his breathing became the sound of sleep. It was warm and cozy and everything good. I already miss you, three-year-old Moses. You're growing up too fast.  

"It's okay, little buggie"

Here is a story from the husband on their way to daycare this morning:

The cutest thing just happened in the car. There is a tiny bug on the outside of Moses's window. Moses asked me to take it off and I told him that he would fly away when I started driving. As I started driving, Moses said to the bug "that's OK little buggie, you'll just go away when daddy starts driving. That's OK."

He touched my heart

After dinner the other day, moses asked if I could play with toys in his room with him. I told him I'd finish cleaning up dinner and then I'd come join him. He ran to his room for just a minute. Then he came back to the kitchen and he said, "I came back, Mommy." I asked him if he was came back to play in the kitchen, he said, "No Mommy, I came back to be with you, because I love you. I'm going to help you." Then he proceeded to bring everything from the living room into the kitchen carefully asking me where they should go and putting them there. 

The same night he told Shane, "Daddy, it's going to rain, make sure not to get wet." 

He takes care of us. And he's only three, so I'm sure it gets even better from here. 

It's hard to really capture in words, but I feel like my little heart is constantly shredded from how over-full these kids make it. Bursting at the seams. 

Kids, watching the dryer for a few minutes, on one of many sick days this week. Love them. 

GDFR

While playing on his own, I heard Moses sing, "Going Down For Real." I know we listen to it on the radio, but I suddenly feel very aware that I don't know what that song is about.  

Socks

I asked Moses to remember to put on some socks this morning. In response, he says, "okay, mommy! Are we going to daycare or to church today?"

I'm guessing he has earmarked in his mind which are daycare socks and which are church socks. :) 

Big boy underwear

Night 1 of no pull ups, and Moses woke up dry! We ran out of them and didn't bother to buy new ones. And he recently told me, while wearing pull-ups and awake, told me that he peed in them. Made me think that he was probably ready. And he was! :) 

Maybe he's going to be into older ladies like Daddy

Moses told me he wants to bring his pink seal to daycare so he can give it to Malik because she's a girl and pink is for girls. I asked him to describe her and he told me she has soft skin, and all kids have soft skin. I asked what color her hair is, and he said black. I asked what color skin she has, and he said, uhm, brown. And I asked if she was tall, and he said, "Yeah, she's SO tall, and she has a big head, and big legs! And her head is really really big." And I asked how old she was and if she was his friend, and he said, no, she's in the 5-year-olds class, and she is True's friend. Aiming high, huh, buddy? Going for the kindergarteners. Haha. 

Chapstick

So, against my better judgement, I bought Moses one of those round EOS chopsticks in blueberry flavor. I feel lucky that he hasn't eaten the whole thing yet, but he does, unfortunately, regularly call it his "lipstick." 

Well, the other day, after brushing his teeth, with his face all wet, he was trying to put this lip stuff on. I told him that he should dry off his face before he does that and it would be better (because, as you may know, lip stuff doesn't really go on when your lips are wet). 

After a very mini-tantrum, he dried his face off while I dried his lip stuff off on the back of my hand. 

He proceeded to put on his lip stuff once more, and in the middle of doing it, he turned to me and said, "Oh, I see what you mean." 

:) 

I was a bit sad

I was a bit sad the other day when I was getting the kids ready for bed. Moses came back out after I finished putting him to bed to tell me that during water day that day at daycare, the water was cold. And he was cold. And he was sitting out and almost crying because he wasn't happy. 

I think he was trying to show me empathy for how I was feeling bummed by telling me his story. He was trying to make me feel better, that kid. :) I told him that I was sorry he felt cold, and maybe next time it won't be so bad. And I made sure to also reassure him that Mommy was okay and that we were going to be okay. He's a good person, and his little story did make me feel better somehow. 

"Clouds"

Moses yelled, "Mommy, get the bug!!"

I leaned over to see what he was pointed at (on the ground), and I said, "No, buddy, it's not a big."

"What is it? Is it a cloud?"

"No, this is what you call a dust bunny."

Occasional tantrums

Today's tantrum was because he had wanted to put on the sweatshirt while buckled in the car seat, but he couldn't. Putting it on after getting out of the car seat was unacceptable. (From what I could make out). These kinds of hysterical crying tantrums turn my brain into annoyed mush. *sigh* 

Oriental Trading

Moses enjoys looking through the Oriental Trading catalog as he does #2 on the potty at home. we got a new one in the mail yesterday and I had it on the counter in the kitchen. I was cleaning up after lunch, and I heard him waddling down the hall from the bathroom with his shorts around his ankles. He took the magazine from the counter and said, "I need this, okay?" And waddled back down the hall to the bathroom to do his business. He is so awesome. 

Wish I could document all of his awesomeness. I love that kid. 

Good Girl!

i helped mosey tie the strings on his shorts the other day. i struggled a bit because they were so thick and short. when i finally got it, moses was so excited and encouraging that he told me, "good girl!" haha

Ants

Mo was telling me about how he found some chocolate on the ground. He ate some and shared some with his pal Max.  Moses also told me his piece had ants on it, and he had to spit them out. He was rather amused. I was simultaneously  grossed out that he ate random chocolate from the ground and proud that he shared. 

To be honest with you

In response to me saying that I thought his shirt was getting a bit small: "Mommy, I think it's just the right size, to be honest with you."

In response to me telling him I needed to go fix my hair: "Why? [looks at my hair for a minute] Oh, I see why, your hair is sticking up, Mommy, I see."

In response to a song (Ellie Goilding's Love Me Like You Do, a song he enjoys) being played on the radio twice in one hour: "Hey mommy [laughs], this song is on the radio again!" He's really paying attention!!

Waking up

We'd been having a problem with moses getting up after bedtime a lot, and then him waking up early squirrely (like 5 ish) for the past few months... Half a year? He even woke up crying last night that his stuffed lion and bear were moving. It was freaky. We finally put Eden in the crib in his room last night (at his request) and they've both been quiet as a mouse all night!! Woo hoo!!! 

Dinosaurs

"We can't see any dinosaurs at the zoo, right Mommy?"

"Yes, we don't see them there because dinosaurs are extinct. They don't live here anymore."

"Oh... So, where do they stink now?"

Haha, love that kid. 

Police

Moses, on the car ride home today: "If you need help, you can go ask a police officer for help. And he will give you a ticket, and he will tell you to be a better driver." 

I've been trying to teach him that if he ever needs help, he can ask a police officer, because they can always help you. But the message is getting mixed up somehow. :) he also tells me that police can put us in jail, which, who is teaching him that, I wonder. 

Legos

 

Our first Lego project together. We're still not exactly sure what it is, but Mo says confidently, "It's a bad guy." Looking forward to more. :) 

Calling me out

In the car, on the way home from daycare yesterday:

"Are you wearing pajamas, Mommy?"

Yes, son, they are. They're yoga pants and a t-shirt, but truth be told, I wore them to bed last night, and I will be wearing them to bed again this evening, barring any major dinner/bath time catastrophes. :) observant kid. 

song requests

somewhere in between "the muffin man" and making up random diddies about caterpillers, moses also requests Taylor Swift songs. i admit it's really cute, but i do think we need to expand his repertoire a bit.

fiddle?

so, every day, i'm still surprised by how much our little mo knows now. today, he was telling us about the "century table" ("sensory table") at school. he told us that there are "1, 2 fiddles" and tried to describe them to us, there is a hole in the middle, and things that go out, and it's round.

shane really thought he was saying fiddles, so he looked it up on google image to show mo, and with a quick glance and a big cheesy smile, moses says, "those are violins, daddy! we don't have violins at daycare!! we have maracas!!"

we still don't know what he meant by fiddles at the century table, but we do know he knows a thing or two about instruments. :)

Cheerios with my Mo

Oh!! Cheerios are a circle, and they look like a zero!!

Mommy, I'm thirsty

He stood at my doorway in his pajamas and repeated this about 10 times. I replied, ' no, it's time for bed, buddy." It was like a no-drama, son-to-mommy showdown. 

We had cut off liquids in hopes that he wouldn't pee during the night. 

I heard him go potty. I heard him wash his hands. Then I heard the water on a long time. I walked over to the bathroom and saw him leaning over, with his face under the faucet, taking long satisfying drinks. He finished up, dried his hands, and saw me. 

He said, "Mommy, I went potty, and I drunk water!" 

Yes, you sure did. And I felt pretty proud. Proud that he solved his problem on his own, and that he told me about it right away. He's so great, my heart could really just burst with love and pride. 

time with lil mo

little mosey was sick this week with some kind of GI thing. he had a bad bout of diarrhea during the night on tuesday night, and then he woke up feeling fine, but i kept him home just in case. and good thing i did! he was eating breakfast with me, and suddenly, out of the blue, had projectile vomit that even included pieces of dinner from the night before. wow. it was crazy. it happened one more time and he waivered all day between feeling fine and starving to feeling completely nauseous. it made work kind of hard to accomplish, to be honest with you, and i really wished that i had PTO saved up to be able to call in sick. but i didn't.

but you know, we had time to relax together. he napped next to me and snuggled with me quietly while i worked some. he painted while i read an article. we watched a couple of movies together. it was kind of like old times, before work, before the baby, just me and mosey. i enjoy hanging out with that kid. i felt like, even though i hated that he was sick, it was like God's little gift to me and Mo to be able to hang out for a day and fill that love tank between us. i'm so thankful.

also, i wanted to tell you the sweetest thing. i snuggled with him one of the nights this week, and as we were laying there side-by-side in his little toddler bed, he said to me, "Mommy, i'll give you princess flowers, because i love you. and i'll give you princess rings and princess pizza. (when asked what "princess pizza" looks like) princess pizza is like a triangle and it has macaroni on it. and it [the macaroni] makes it yummy. [he paused here; i think he was thinking here about how i'm a grown up and not a little girl princess] Mommy, i'll get you grown up princess rings. and i'll get you a princess car, too."

i look forward to seeing who he'll pick to be his wife one day. she's going to be really lucky, because i feel super cared for by him, and he's only 3. he's going to grow up to be a phenomenal man.

The moon

Moses and Daddy this morning, on the way to daycare:

Moses: "I see the moon, Daddy."

Daddy: "If I could, I would lasso the moon and give it to you, Buddy."

Moses: "And then I could give it to Mommy."

He's so sweet, that boy. My heart is full of good feelings. I can see at least one reason people might choose to have more and more kids. :) 

so proud of our little man

so, you know how they say that kids grow up too fast? i already know that to be true. moses is only 3, but suddenly, i feel like he knows all sorts of things that i haven't taught him about. he knows:

• all the letters of the alphabet and what they say and examples of words that begin with that letter
• all the months of the year, and in a song, no less!
• where his heart is and that a doctor listens to it
• lyrics to taylor swift songs, like for real, much much better than i do

he chows down pho and goat cheese (not at the same time, but given the chance, he probably would). he is our little man. it's hard to imagine loving him more, but each day i wake up and i do.

Toilet, boots, and flowers

I haven't written in a while. My maternity leave ended last week, and things are super duper busy. I think that maybe one reason why Mosey is having some of these potty accidents. :/ 

One of them was actually a bon-a-fide accident, though. He had pulled up the step stool to the potty, pulled his pants down, and gotten a magazine for reading material, and then, SPLASH! The toilet seat was left up and he didn't notice it, so poor kid fell all the way into the toilet! Shane ran to see what happened and found him folded in half, stuck in there, with his underwear and pants around his ankles, still holding up with magazine in one hand. Funny, but in the most tender way possible. We love that kid so much. 

He is so observant, and I think that is part of what makes him so sensitive to things. Last week, I was wearing boots with a little bit of a heel, and one of the first things he said to me was, "Youre big, Mommy? Because you're wearing boots?" He is so smart!

And he stops to smell the flowers, which I love!! Even when they're in the corridor to the bathroom in a restaurant and they're not even real. He'll smell them and report to me that they don't smell like anything. :) love that kid. 

My boy

I've been pretty disappointed in Moses' behavior a lot lately, and a couple of times it's become quite clear that I need to have a better attitude. It's when he's said, "Mommy, you need to be happy!"

And another time when he said, "I'm not turning into a monster, Mommy is." 

Sad face. I am, my sweet boy. Please forgive me. And may God fill in those places where I am not enough. 

precious boy

i hope he says "lellow" instead of "yellow" for a while longer. it's so cute.

he also says, "aks" instead of "ask," and i think it's super endearing.

he and i were eating two clementines together, and shane had already left the table. well, after i got mo's fruit peeled, he told me he was going to share his with daddy because there weren't any more. he is so sweet!

love that kid.

Imaginary friend

Might be just for today, but Moses has an imaginary friend. She's a doctor, her name is Anna, and she is black, and white, and blue. It actually creeped me out juuuust a little bit. Not sure why. 

gentleness intelligence?

what kind of intelligence is it? even as a baby, Moses never pulled on my hair or earrings. and now, as a three-year old, he knows how to handle his baby sister. i've never really had to teach him to be gentle with her; he acts like a kid who's been around babies a lot in his life (but he actually hasn't). he pets her hair, kisses her forehead, and puts his hands on her belly. he even talks to her in third person ("Moses is taking a shower, Baby Girl."), it's the sweetest thing. he knows that the baby doesn't know any better, and if she kicks him or something, he knows that she didn't mean it. how does he know all these things??

the other day, he was lying on my lap/chest, and he realized that my boobs hurt because of nursing (i didn't remind him, he just realized it on his own), so he got up, and put his pillow on my chest so he could lie on that. he knew it would feel more comfortable for me. how?? this child is a genius.

also, yesterday, he was watching the movie Cars (again), and he actually got up from the couch, on his own volition, picked up the remote control and said, "i shouldn't watch too much cars," and turned the TV off.

this is the kind of stuff that makes me feel bad for complaining about being home with him. but i do. because even though he's generally a super remarkable, wonderful kid, he also says, "Mommy, watch this! Mommy, look at me!" about a million times a day, pushes boundaries all day (and all evening!) long, randomly acts totally brainless and helpless, and has major meltdowns over seemingly minor things. i guess he is just three years old, and has a relatively new baby sister, and is home instead of at daycare. three big reasons to have some behavioral hiccups.

i am overall very thankful that he's not a jealous type of kid. he knows baby girl needs me, and he has only ever had positive things to say about Eden. he suggests things she might need/want, and he is mindful of her. he is insatiably asking for snuggle time with me, but i think it's just because he misses time with me. i miss you too, mosey.