Labradoris

Dear Little Guy,

Happy 5th Birthday!  Even though you entered my life only a short while ago, I feel as if I know you very well.  I just wanted to let you know how extraordinarily special we think you are.  You keep us smiling, and you draw us closer together.  Your favorite thing to do right now is play Legos, Transformers, go hiking with us, pester the dog, and have books read to you.  And, movies.  You love watching movies.  If you could play legos, watch a movie, pester the dog, AND hike all at the same time, you would be in 5-year-old heaven.

Your skills at eating and not complaining about what is set in front of you never ceases to amaze me.  You are willing to try most anything, and hey, it's fair if you don't like something.  For instance, tonight you resisted a little bit when we asked you to try the restaurant's dumplins.  As soon as you tasted a bite though, a smile spread across your face and you couldn't get enough.  And, oh, your smile.  Oh, your smile.  That smile of yours is going to win over so many people in your life.  You use it when you are being coy, but my favorite smile from you is when it is genuine.  A big smile will light up your entire face when you realize you have made someone laugh.  You also have the cutest giggle.  I love tickling you and hearing your joyful giggles and seeing your adorable smiles.  

Tonight we celebrated your birthday with cake and presents.  Just the four of us, Cosette included, enjoying cake having a pow-wow on the floor together (well, Cosette abstained from the cake).  I had a massive headache, unfortunately, so after we had eaten our share of cake, I crawled back to my comfy spot on the couch and curled up to watch you and Daddy play Legos.  You were building a pirate ship, and you took interest in the instructions but ultimately decided to just build the pirate ship yourself.  And you know what?  It turned out pretty good.  Sure, there were extra pieces leftover, but I thought your ship was more creative.  

But what I wanted to tell you was the feeling that came over me.  Maybe it was the headache.  Maybe it was the sugar rush.  As I laid there watching your small hands picking up even smaller pieces and manipulating them confidently, watched you interacting with Daddy, and saw Cosette nestled among us, her family all in place -- I was overcome with such a feeling of fulfilled happiness.  I don't think it was sugar or delusions from the headache.  It was love.

You bring us joy and so much love.

Love,
Me

The other day I was driving around town and had Little Guy with me.  It had been mostly quiet driving around because LG was chewing on his fruit snacks.  All of a sudden from the back I heard, "This says zero.  That means it didn't cost anything."  I glanced back to see what he was talking about, and realized he was holding up the fruit snack package and looking at it.  One of the numbers on there said 1.0 oz or something similar.  I said, "Oh, no, it costs money.  That just means how much the snack pack weighs."  He went silent for a moment and then said with authority, "No.  Then if it is a zero, that means it doesn't weigh anything."

I was impressed with his ability to deduce that from what I told him, but shocked at my own inability to explain a decimal point to him.  I tried to explain that it was just a number to tell us how much all the snacks weighed, but he kept coming back to the zero because he knew it meant a quantity of nothing. 

People, I have a masters degree and am semi-skilled with numbers.  I couldn't think of how to explain this to a four-year-old.  Decimal points.  Freakin' decimal points.  Something tells me I need to stop lecturing to undergraduates, and start prepping myself for five-year-old math questions.  Something also tells me this feat will be harder.

The other day Joel was gone on a faculty interview to NJ, so I was in charge of little guy that afternoon.  I cut out early from work and went to pick him up from school.  He was ecstatic to see me when I picked him up from school.  He took me by the hand and showed me his drawing from that day, and the teacher helped me understand what the story had said and how his drawing corresponded to it.
We then climbed in the car, buckled up, and began a conversation.  LG loves to make elaborate plans for the day, so I asked him what he wanted to do.  He was mostly excited about a Scholastic book event rather than anything he wanted to do that afternoon.  So, I tried to encourage by saying playfully, "Well, I thought we'd go to the park, and playyyyyy, and then go home and play with your Transformers, and play, and play and play and play, and playyyyyy, and playyyyyy and playyyyy..." and I was right in the middle of a "play," when he loudly exclaimed, "OKAY!  I get it."
It was all I could do to stifle a laugh.  I was being annoying because I thought he wasn't listening, but it turns out, he totally was. 

Taken July 4th weekend, 2008.

We decided to go hiking again this morning, and in a brief moment of clarity, we thought to bring makeshift sleds using plastic container tops.  We drove out to the same trail, excited and somewhat optimistic that the sun hadn't managed to melt the icy slopes we  had been on yesterday.

We arrived and saw that the trail was somewhat still covered in snow, but it had become crunchy and less suited for sliding.  LG could get going on some of the hills, but the adults had less luck.  We spent so much time last week getting stuck in various places in town that I wasn't wanting to venture out onto unpaved roads, but I think I might just chance it next time it snows.  The hills out on that trail are well worth it!

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the bed listening to my other half read LG a Berenstain Bear book that's called "The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies."

The story meanders through the tale of how the bear cubs get a bad case of the gimmies, and how the cubs learn not to throw fits and ask for everything in sight.  We finished reading the book, and LG promptly smiles and turns the book over to look at the back cover.  On the back of the books, the publishers have placed pictures of all the books in the series.  He points to all of them and declares, "And now you have to buy me all of these!!"

I was having a discussion with Little Guy (LG) yesterday.  He and I had gone to the police station while Joel was in a late afternoon meeting.  We went to the police station so I could get the city licenses for the dogs (they have to be on record in case they ever get lost), and LG was THRILLED to see all the police cars.  While I was waiting at the window filling out paperwork, he was clinging to my leg and looking wide-eyed all around the station.  I held him up so he could look in the receptionist area and he was so impressed.  I was like, yes, look at all the police paperwork!  Haha.  There was just a lady helping me, surrounded by filing cabinets, so it wasn't impressive but he was in awe.  Then we got to see a real policeman walk in with someone from the Army, and the army guy stood behind us in line and the policeman went through a security door into the back.  LG was looking up at the army guy, wide-eyed, and I said, "Are you scared, little guy?"  And he shook his head no and whispered, "I LOVE policemen.  And firetrucks.  And doctors.  And army people."  I said, "Yes, they help protect us, don't they?" and he nodded and smiled up at the army guy.  Then the policeman emerged from the back and walked out of the station, and LG stared after him and was SO IMPRESSED that we were there getting to see the policemen in their uniforms.  It just made his day.  That's all that he could talk about when he saw Joel.  Then, we were sitting around and LG was on my lap and telling me how much he liked policemen and firetrucks.  I said that my daddy was a fireman (kinda) and his eyes got really big and he goes, "I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!!  Your daddy's a FIREMAN??"  I told him how my father helps fight fires and teaches other people how to fight them, and he said that was "SO COOL."  He then excitedly said, "And what does your mom do?  Is she a firefighter too?"  I said, "No, she stayed at home and took care of my sister and I when we were growing up."  And he thought for a second and then said, "Well, she needs to be something.  She can either be a firefighter, a policeman, or a doctor.  Which one will she be?"  And I said, "Well, I guess she'll be a policewoman!"  And he said, "Okay.  Tell her that."