You Say Skunk," He Says "Stunk." You Say "Duck," He Says "Dunk."

My three-year-old and I do a lot of visiting while we are in the car, during meals, and when we are hanging out.  He says the darndest things.  Some of these are too good to not share...

In L's mind, "granola" equals canola, and "peanuts" equals donuts.   So, he asked me, "Mom, are there donuts in this canola bar?"

"Mom, can you get me glasses so I can read better?"  Instead, he is learning to read the "hard" way, like the rest of us had to, by memorizing the alphabet, writing letters, and rhyming.  We've been practicing letters and the sounds they make.....and apparently we are watching too much TV, because he said, "Mom! 'Nationwide is on your side' rhymes with k-k-k-Bat!"  (Just shake your head and don't try to figure out his logic.)

"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bake yers hands."

[Singing] "This girl is on.........How does it go again? Oh, FIRE!"  [Discouraged]  "I'm not a very good singer!" (Because remembering the lyrics is a very crucial part to becoming a phenomenal singer.)

He plays on the "monkey barns" on his "swing sec."


Every time he hears a car horn, he says, "Ugggghhh!  Those girls are honking at me again!"

He attended Vacation Bible School this summer and was given a hula hoop to take home.  At VBS, he learned how to pronounce King Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and all about who they were, but he calls his new toy a "whoop-dee-whoop."

L went to his first dentist appointment and was given a bag of goodies.  It is also soon hunting season, and he recently learned what camouflage is.  So, he's been asking, "Mom, where's my camo-floss?"


"Mom, how come you don't always wear ponies and bunnies in your hair like Shawnda does?"  (For the record, I wear my hair in a ponytail or a bun quite often.)

"Did you know Gus has a Transformer that can trans?!?!"  (Not "transform," just "trans.")



L tripped and fell at the bowling alley.  His head landed right on the nosing of a step, and caused a pretty nasty bump and black eye.  We often talk about our eye color, but when I told him, "I like your blue eyes," he said, "Don't you mean my black eye?!"

He looks pretty tough lately with buzzed hair and a black eye.



Did You Get Your Hairs Cut?

L took it upon himself to cut his own hair last week.  He said it was because "it was sticking up."  After I finally noticed the two chunks of hair missing from the top of his head, we had a life lesson about how only grown-ups can use those sharp scissors, and only the lady at the "haircut store" can cut his hair.

Please pardon the picture quality.  It was taken with my cell phone.

 

L had to carry on with this crazy 'do for a couple days until the next time we went to The Big City.  Everywhere we went, he had to explain why his hair looked so weird.  Hopefully he was just embarrassed enough to learn his lesson.

When I took L to get his hair fixed, the only successful option was to buzz it.  I was kind of making a big deal about it- you know, taking pictures and such.  We got in the car after the humbling haircut, and I was talking to him in the rear-view mirror about how different he looked.  Then, he somberly says, "Mom, put the mirror up. I don't want to look in it anymore. I just want to be what I beeeed.... Long hair."

Trying not to laugh, but feeling sorry for him at the same time, I told him he looked good and this is what happens when kids cut their own hair.  Crisis averted; L is fine with the way he looks and now this story can be recorded in his baby book.





Tell me this is something that EVERY kid does, right?  Like a right of passage?  My opinion is that at least he didn't cut somebody ELSE's hair (like I did when I was a his age).  And at least he's a boy so he can easily pull off the buzz cut.  Please share your childhood hair-cutting catastrophe stories!

Lucas Stories

Although his toy box is filled with trucks, tractors, balls and hockey sticks, Lucas still knows how to play with dolls, kitchen stuff and princesses. The one he always points out and calls by name is "Princerella." You know? The one with the glass slipper!







Here he is shaving just like Daddy





 

During the holiday season, we enjoyed listening to Christmas music in the car. One day said, "Mom, let's sing the Spanish Christmas song: 'Pah-lease Mom and Dad....Please Mom and Dad!" (Insert those words as you sing 'Feliz Navidad' in your head, and you'll know where he was coming from!)

 

 

This morning, I said, "Lucas, look at the trees- they're all white and frosty!" He replied, "Oh, like on cake?"  I realized he thought I said 'frosting' and not 'frosty.'

 

 



He loves it when we give him "piggy-bank rides."

 

 

He says "to-yesterday," which actually makes a lot of sense when the alternatives are 'TOday' and 'TOmorrow.'

 

 

If he could watch movies all day, he'd be in heaven. His latest favorite is Wreck-It Ralph, but he used to call it Rock and Roll since the two phrases apparently sound similar.  Another favorite is "Despicable MOMMA" or "Despicable YOU."  I figured he calls it that because when I would say "Lucas, do you want to watch Despicable Me?" he thought I was referring to myself.

 

He had Jason and I rolling on the floor laughing one time when he meant to say "Are they theirs?" but couldn't figure out how to phrase it. Instead, it came out, "Are them thems?  Are them theys?  Is theirs thems?  Are these thems?"

 

My heart melts when he compliments me: "Nice dress, Mom!" and "Cool paint, Mom!"


The other day, he nicely asked, "Mom, can you turn the light on for me? It's too ghosty in there." (It was dark in the bathroom.)



I don’t ever want to forget how he makes me smileJ



 



 

He doesn't like Spiderman at all





 

Two

I am the mother of two.  Two beautiful boys.  One blonde and one brunette.  One born during a minor spring flood two years ago, and the other born during a rare early-autumn blizzard.  Two.

 

 

On October 5th, we welcomed Reed James into our family.

He was 7 pounds 1.7 ounces of perfection.

 

 

 

 



I cannot help but compare my two boys- their features, their dispositions, their size...

L after his first bath at home.



R after his first bath at home.





L one couch cushion long.

 

R one couch cushion long.

 

Immediately after Reed was born, J got to proudly announce to me, “It’s a boy!”  After the tears of joy, my mind turned to pictures of our future:



 

Two little boys in matching outfits.

Two little boys playing in our yard.

Two bigger boys helping with yardWORK.

Two brothers on the same sports team.

Two young men farming together.

Two grown men standing up at each other’s weddings.

 

 

But for now, there is not enough room in their baby books to record every little memory that I don’t want to lose.  Like Lucas’s excitement and comprehension as we prepared for the arrival of the baby...

As my midsection grew, he understood that there was a baby in there.  We would ask him, “Lucas, do YOU have a baby in YOUR belly?”  He would respond, “Noooo!  I have Jesus in my heart.” 

When I felt the baby moving around, kicking, or when it had hiccups, I would take L’s hand so he could feel it.  Then, one night as J was putting Lucas’s jammies on, Lucas exclaimed, “Look!  Jesus has the hiccucks!” as he rolled his bare belly in and out as if to imitate Mommy’s.

 

 

 

Now that precious, little Reed has arrived, Lucas is really the best big brother a baby could ask for.  When the two first met, Lucas was excited to hold Reed and kiss and hug him.  And lucky for us, he still cannot get enough of him.  Neither can we, Big Brother!

 

 

Oh, to be a child again.

Christmas is not Christmas without the joy of children. To see the excitement of Christmas in their little eyes is a complete blessing.


We are taking a “hands-on” approach to teaching our son the meaning of Christmas. Last year, he received a Nativity set from his godparents, Auntie and Uncle. Luckily it isn’t breakable, because L plays with it for hours at a time. He thinks the stable is Jesus’ house. He thinks Joseph is Jesus, because every picture he has ever seen shows Jesus as a grown man. He knows Mary is Jesus’ mama, but Baby Jesus…well, he thinks it is completely appropriate that the Baby would take rides on a pirate ship. He corrals his horses and places them next to the scene. Also, he thinks firemen, trains, elephants and pigs were present at Jesus’ birth.

Sadly, Baby Jesus went missing for about a month.

We searched the house high and low.

Then, one day, I glanced over at the Nativity and there he was, sleeping peacefully in the manger like he’d never been missing at all!

Quite the analogy, don’t you think? Jesus has been present all along…



Sure, our toddler knows about Santa, Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, stockings and presents, but we’ll teach him the true meaning of Christmas when we sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. (He loves that song!)

Every night we say prayers. He folds his little hands, and repeats slowly, “God bless Mommy, Daddy, Lucas, and all of our family and all of our friends. Amen.” Then he always, always exclaims, “JESUS!” and we add, “And teach us to be more like Jesus. Amen.”

I don’t know how it happened, but he knows that Jesus goes with prayers and family and God.


So, Christmas is alive and well in our home. Decorations are hung, shopping is [almost] done, goodies are being baked, and we even have an early Christmas celebration on Friday when nearly our entire family will be together.  'Tis the season!