Life goes on...

It's hard to believe it's been over three weeks since our lives got turned upside down when we got the terrible news my little brother had been killed.  I am so grateful for the resilience and joy that kids are so full of  - God has blessed me with many reasons and occasions to smile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

N: "Ab, I love you SO much.  I even love you more than lemonade and lollipops."

How can I help but smile about that?  :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J (Pointing frantically at the people near us):  "MOM!  LOOKIT!"
Me:  "J, it isn't polite to point at people."
J:  "But there's some humans over there.  I haven't met them yet."

I swear my kid really thinks he is a robot...or a T-Rex.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J is running crazily from room to room GROWLING.
N:  "J, that is not what pterodactyls do."
J:  "Duh!  I'm a T-REX!"

Clearly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J:  "Mom, lookit.  It's my miracle!"  (holds up a plastic baby spoon)
Me:  Your miracle?"
J:  "Yep.  It's a talking spoon."

Hugging Days

Sometimes life is hard.  We are grieving the loss of my little brother who was killed when a car hit him as he was riding his bike to work for the night shift.  Noah was one of the best uncles the world has known. He loved my kids, and they adored him.  Last night, after a long day of seeing all of the big people in his life grieve, J came over to give me hug, looked at me with a very serious face and said, "It's a hugging day today."  

We love and miss you, Noah David.  Our hearts are broken.

A little Catch Up

It's been a while...so here are a few tidbits:

N:  Ab, the KIMONO zoo is bigger than the Minnesota zoo, right?
Me: No, the COMO zoo is smaller.
N:  Pretty sure it's the KIMONO zoo.

I'm pretty sure it's not, but okay.

-------------------------------------------------------------

While camping in the north woods by beautiful Lake Kabetogama, J got to do some fishing and also watch Papa Mike fillet a few sauger.  The next time we were at the beach he decided to fix everyone on the beach "chicken fish".  He carefully found some aquatic plants with thicker stems and broke them into pieces.  Then he proceeded to "whack 'em on the head so they're dead", cut them up with a "knife" (stick), season them by sprinkling sand on them, toss them in flour (more sand) and cook them, and then serve everybody on the beach one by one.  "Want some chicken fish?"  Thankfully, all of them were moms/grandparents/other kids who were familiar with fishing, so they weren't too traumatized.  In case you were wondering if he pays attention while he's running and playing, the answer is, apparently, yes.  :)

-----------------------------------------------------------

J:  Mama, you can just make mine food in the "heat wave".

Me:  ?????

J: You know, this.  (points at the microwave)


                                          ------------------------------------------------------------

At the McDonald's indoor playground, J comes down crying to the table:
Me:  What's the matter, sweet pea?
J:  That...that...that HUMAN hit me.

Yes, as opposed to the robots that were nice to you.

                                          -----------------------------------------------------------

Steve was holding J, and J was drinking out of Steve's glass of pop:
J: *loud belch* (tips the cup and looks in it) "Dad...is this BURPING JUICE?"

Genius, I Tell You.

I got a funny text from S's mom:

"Cute quote for the day.
We are watching a kids' show together and S said, 'Mommy, you are a genius!'
'Wow, thanks!  Where did you learn that word?'
'J and N call their mommies geniuses.'
'Do you know what that word means?'
'Yep, it means you are a really good cook and you have LOTS of playtime.' "

And now you know.

A "Robber" and Colored Hearts

I love the conversations I have with N when there are no other kids around to compete for his talking time.  :)

Today on the way to his house to meet his parents so they could leave on a trip to visit friends in a neighboring state:

N: "Ab, I am going to see my friend Jackson.  I remember his name now.  Once I forgot his name for a WHOLE day, and then I knew it.  And I know his dad's name."
Me: "Really?  What is it?"
N: "Robber.  But he's not a bad guy, he just has a bad guy name.  He really isn't a bad guy.  And mine friend's mom isn't a bad guy either.  I think her name is Jen.  That's just like my mom."
Me:  "Oh.  I'm glad they aren't bad guys.  It would be scary to be friends with bad guys."
N:  "It's very good.  Because if mine friend's dad was a bad guy, and his mom was a bad guy, then Jackson and him's little sister would be bad guys too."
Me:  "Well, not necessarily.  What if your friend and his little sister asked Jesus to come into their hearts?"
N:  "They'd be TRANSFORMED!"
Me:  "Really?  What does transformed mean?"
N"  "Their hearts change.  Into different colored ones."
Me:  "Interesting.  Well, what color are bad guy hearts?"
N:  "Black.  With bad guy pictures on them."
Me:  "What do they look like when Jesus comes into them?"
N:  "Red.  With Jesus pictures on them."

Pause

Me: "N, is your friend's dad's name Robert?  With a "tuh, tuh, t on the end?"
N:  "Oh.  Yah.  Probably.  And he's not a bad guy."

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid? :)

Too Short By An Inch... :(

We were going to go tubing today, but J is only 41 inches tall, and only three years old.  The requirement is 42 inches tall or 4 years old.  I thought we could just put him on our laps, but no go.  One stinking inch.  :(

He kept telling us "I big!  I big enough!"  And when we told him he was just a little too short, he cried and cried.  And then he said, "I will eat a lot of food, then we can go!"  He does grow fast, but I think it's going to be a couple of months before he gets this inch.  Bummer.

The Trials of Being Three...

Poor J woke up this morning with a fever and lots of tears.  Not sure what was going on, exactly, but the generic  equivalent of Tylenol meltaways took the fever down and he has spent the morning playing and watching episodes of Dora on Netflix.  His poor day took a turn for the worse when he decided that he should hit the TV with his hands and various toys like blocks and bats, even after being warned that he'd lose the privilege of watching TV if he kept it up.  He kept it up, and I turned the TV off.  Long crying fits ensued, and then we had this conversation:

J (crawling on my lap): *unintelligible words through tears and sobs*
Me:  "I'd love to hug you, but you can't wail loudly on my lap because it hurts my ears, okay?"
J:  "O *sniffle* tay.  I wanna watch DOOO-AAAAAH." and starts crying again.
Me:  "I'm sure you do.  Maybe you can try again after your nap."
J:  "I said I sorry."
Me:  "I know you did.  And I forgive you.  And if you can show me you can be a big boy and obey, we will put Dora on again after your nap."
J: "*mumble, mumble* hard a be a J"
Me (thinking I heard him wrong):  "Wait.  Did you just say it's hard to be J?"
J (scowling):  "YES! It is harda be J!  I wanna watch Do-Ah."

I had to hug him so he couldn't see me trying not to laugh.  I would have hugged him anyway, because he's right.  Sometimes it is hard to be three and to have a mom who won't let you do what you want.  It just surprised me to hear him say it out loud,and the sheer cuteness made me want to giggle. (Those of you who know him know how cute he is when he gets mad.)  And yes, I'm still making him wait until after nap to try again.