He Speaks!

As a parent you hear it, you read it, you even say it to others -- don't compare your kid to other kids.  Each child develops differently.  There is a wide range of "normal."  But as a parent, do you listen?  Absolutely not.  If it's your first kid, you're bound to feel a twinge when so-and-so's what's-his-name rolls over first.  Or says, "Mama."  Or takes his first steps.  But when your kid reaches a milestone before any other the same age, how can you not think you're kid is the smartest, most advanced out there?  Then if kid number two comes along, perhaps they take longer to sleep thru the night...they master the cup sooner...they weigh 5 pounds more than number one at that age...and so on.  Comparing is human nature.  And fun.  It gives us something to talk about.  And we learn (and are encouraged) to do it at a pretty young age.  But don't do it.

I thought Alastair was going to be my least chatty of the 3 boys.  Nope, not true.  He just took longer to get chatty.  Makes sense, right?  He didn't walk until he was 18 months old, after all, even though they other two did at 13 months.  (But man, can that kid throw a ball!  Accuracy and distance go far beyond the other two at age 2...)  So, all of the sudden Alastair is stringing words together in little sentences and makes every effort to be a part of every conversation.  Suddenly he seems to just "get" a lot of things, too.  I've said it many times, and blogged about it plenty, but there's something so thrilling about witnessing language develop.

I can't let another day go by without listing some of my favorite words & phrases that Alastair is using consistently:

hanny = hand
dorndoor = door
balala = banana
bagel = bracelet (also used for anything that goes around a wrist or neck...even the car seat straps are "bagels!")
football game = football (used for both the game & the actual ball.  Both used to be "upball game," but his f's are coming along nicely now, dangit.)
booyay = blueberries (also grapes & cherry tomatoes)
Ankiss = Angus (our yellow lab pup)
Oic = Loic
Laurly = Laurence (Loic called him this, too.  I don't think we influenced Alastair to call him this...but I suppose there's a chance we did.)
Nurny = milk (I know for a fact he can say "milk," but it remains "nurny" to him.)

I know there are more, but they are escaping me for the moment.  There are couple of other recent language favorites I want to share, though.  Alastair has become a master imitator!  It's so funny to hear him utter certain things the rest of us say.  He now says, "Well, hiiii," when he sees me, something I've said to him almost every day, twice a day, when I go into his room when he wakes up in the morning and after his nap.  His tone of voice & inflection is spot on, too.  It's a simple thing, but I never get tired of hearing him say it and I hope he never stops.

Finally, he has learned the power of language.  He's giving commands (very appropriately) to our newest addition, Angus, our yellow lab pup, and is delighted when Angus obeys.   He is also clearly catching on that praise goes a long way.  And if it works with the dog, why not with me?  The past few days, when he asks for something and I comply, he enthusiastically exclaims, "GOOD boy, Mom!"  You know, I gotta admit, those words of affirmation don't hurt...and I'm sure the other boys didn't know how to use them at this age.

We Found Love...

There's a pretty popular song right now called "We Found Love," by Rihanna.  Everyone in my family loves it.  In fact, we've been known to play it over and over and over again, really loudly, then play it many, many times more, singing & dancing to exhaustion.  I'm quite sure we get many of the lyrics wrong, but we've got "We found love in a hopeless place" down pat.

In other news, we got a puppy!  No, we did not name it Rihanna, and yes, her hit song is relevant in this story.  Angus, a 10-week-old yellow lab has been welcomed into our family with 10 open arms.  He is laid back, calm, affectionate and incredibly handsome.  Seems rather smart, too.  The moment we saw him we knew the breeder made a good pick for us.  We've been waiting for the right guy to come along for a few months, and Angus is definitely it.  So, now we've got 4 boys and that seems just right.

The breeder is located near Hayward, so we left Friday afternoon to head up there, ate at a great pizza place, then swam & played in the hotel pool until time for bed.  We were all up early on Saturday (not sure I really slept at all, actually!), picked up the pup, and were on the way back to GB before 10 a.m.  We'd been on the road for about 20 minutes when Loic says with a sigh, "Hayward is a hopeless place.  That's where that girl must be singing about, because we found love there."  Not sure Rihanna would agree, but this makes perfect sense to me.

Three Little Words

I'm sure Loic has told Laurence that he loves him before.  At least I think I'm sure.  Yes, I know I'm sure.  Then again...

I was putting the boys to bed tonite and as I leaned down to kiss Loic he said to me, "Bring me your ear really close, Mommy."  He doesn't ever use the word "secret" for some reason, and that's fine with me.  I stuck my head further into his little cave on the bottom bunk and he whispered, "Don't ever tell Laurence...but I love him."  I said, in what I thought was a whisper, "OK, I won't tell him, but if you want to, you could tell him yourself."  A little almost 8-year-old head suddenly peeks over the side of the top bunk, "Tell me what?"  Loic hesitated, then, "I can't tell you," and exploded with giggles.  Nervous ones.  I said, "It would be nice to tell him, Loic, and I bet you'd hear something nice back."  More giggles.  Laurence, laying back down, said, "You tell me, Mom," to which I replied, "No, Loic told me not to.  He'll tell you if he wants to.  Maybe tomorrow."  And I stood up to go.  But Loic, thru his giggles, pipes up with, "OK, I'll tell you, but you can't laugh at me."  Laurence said, seriously, "I won't laugh at you."  Loic again, "And you can't say 'awwwww.'"  "OK, I won't say, 'awwwww."  Lots more giggling.  By now I was standing in the doorway watching this all play out.  It was like the scene of a movie or something, and I got little butterflies in my stomach.   I could see Loic in the dim light shining in from the hallway and his face was all scrunched up and his mouth was twisting just so...and he was still giggling.  The suspense was about too much for me to bear, but he finally took a breath, stopped giggling, and said, "I love you, Laurence."  A quick glance up at Laurence and I saw a sweet smile spread on his face and he said, "Thank you, Loic.  I love you, too."  I quietly closed the door, my heart swelling, my eyes tearing up...amazing.

Did you ever notice how those three little words can be so hard to say when you really mean it?  It's true. Even when you're four.

North Pole Hierarchy

St. Nick's ears have surely been ringing over the past several days.  Everywhere I turn -- our house, Facebook, talking with friends -- he and his day (and/or night) have been the hot topic.  We didn't "do" St. Nick growing up, and in fact I'd never heard of it until I moved to Wisconsin and started having kids.  My husband's family observed way-back-when, so we decided once Laurence was in school and we felt the added pressure of many kids & their families celebrating, that we'd jump on the bandsleigh.

For the first couple of years for Laurence, St. Nick was all about the gift & candy.  This year he & his friends are discussing more about the man himself.  I cringe with every story he brings home, worrying that the combination of St. Nick & Santa Claus might finally be what makes him realize that this is all just too far-fetched to be real.  But I have faith that he wants to believe in the magic, so perhaps we're safe for another year or two.

Anyway, last night we were in the car and he said that he & his friends at school were trying to figure out just who St. Nick is.  Where does he live?  Does he bring presents to everyone all in one night, like Santa does, or does he spread out deliveries over a few days?  Are he & Santa the same guy?  To this question, some say yes, apparently, others insist no.  One of his buddy's argument for the latter is that they can't possibly be the same guy, because Santa is pretty old, and St. Nick is only 21.  Laurence's logic then comes into play, "Mom, I know for sure they're not the same person.  St. Nick comes to make sure we've been good all year and then lets Santa know which kids he can bring presents to on Christmas.  He's Santa's supervisor."  Takes a little pressure off of Mr. Claus, hey?  Here all this time I thought he was making the list, checking it twice, and all that other behind-the-scenes managerial stuff.  Turns out he just gets to be the fun guy!    

Modern Discoveries

In the middle of dinner Laurence says, "Mom, did you know that a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square?"  I replied, "Yes, that's right...and yes, I did know that."  "Really?" he asked, clearly surprised.  "Well, sure," I told him.  "I went to school and learned all of that stuff, too."  "I know," he said, "but I figured shapes weren't discovered yet when you were a kid."

Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter, Euro

The boys each have their own piggy bank.  Actually, they have Big Belly Banks to be exac...WAIT!  I am just now realizing I've never gotten Alastair a Big Belly Bank.  Not sure how I messed that one up.  After discovering them at a craft fair years ago, I've gotten one for almost every niece and nephew of ours, plus our two older boys, but somehow I left Alastair out.  Putting that on his Christmas list right now....sorry, Al.  Anyway, these banks have been a big hit - they're a fun way to learn to save.  We give them coins every now and then to "feed" to their banks and occasionally head to the bank to put them in their accounts.

Just a few weeks ago Loic found a change purse with a bunch of coins inside and was sure he'd hit the jackpot.  He asked if he could put them in his bank, but I took one look and realized they were not just any old coins.  "This isn't American money," I told him, "You can't spend it here."  He'd stumbled upon our stash of foreign coins we've collected from Bill's business trips & our time living in Europe.  He was disappointed, but he & Laurence kept busy for a little while checking out the differences between the foreign money and our own American coins.

Fast forward about 2 weeks and Loic & Laurence are in the basement playing with Legos when they come upstairs, pleased as punch that they'd found two coins (American ones this time).  "Can these be allowance?" Laurence asked.  I was taken aback for a moment, because we've never talked about allowance, but figured he read about it in a book or something, so I just replied, "Well, you can put them in your banks!"  Then he said, "They're quarters, but....this one's not like a normal quarter.  It doesn't have an eagle on the back."  I said, "Oh, it must be a state quarter - each state has it's own design.  Some people collect them to try to get ever state."  "Oh," he said rather flatly; strange from my boy who normally takes delight in anything that has anything to do with geography.  "Which state is it from?" I ask.  He looks at it closely and says, still with little emotion in his voice, "Rhode Island."  "Hey, neat!  That's where Uncle John and Aunt Aud--" "But mom," he interrupts, "Can we spend it in Wisconsin?"

National, State & Local Level

This morning we were running some last minute errands before school starts and I decided to take the boys to the China Buffet for lunch (please don't tell my friends at the Panda House - they'd think I'm a traitor).  I don't normally like Chinese buffets, but this was pretty decent (not as good as the Panda House, though) and really cheap - all four of us ate for under $13!  Anyway, I was really cherishing our lunch together, realizing that soon our schedule will be completely different with school starting - Laurence will be gone all day and most days lunch will be a rush in order to get Loic on the bus at noon for afternoon 4K.

Anyway, we covered some important topics, such as why dragons aren't considered scary & evil in China, why paper lanterns aren't the same thing as balloons, how the Egg Drop Soup isn't as good as the soup at the Panda House, how some chicken wings actually look like little chicken legs, etc.  It was all very enjoyable until...

Laurence decided it was time to discuss politics.  And had questions about politics.  To know me is to know this is a problem.  Not only do I not particularly like discussing politics, but I am not very knowledgeable on this topic.  Sad that a few questions from my almost 2nd-grader could actually make me a bit nervous.  He started it with, "Does Wisconsin have a government?"  Tempted to just say "no," thinking I probably wouldn't have been far off just seemed wrong, so I said, "Yes, each state has a governor, senators, State Representatives, and other officials that have a say in both state and national issues."  Then he asked who decides stuff about Green Bay, and I went on to explain that we have a local government that includes people elected to office, like our mayor.  "Maybe you've heard his name - Jim Schmitt," I said.  "Oh, yes!  Jim Schmitt.  Of course I know who he is.  That must be where that song comes from."  Now I'm puzzled..."what song is that?"  His reply was confident, "John Jacob Jimbleheimer Schmitt -- 'Jim' must just be his nickname."

Maybe politics aren't so scary after all.