Cute.

A while ago, H decided he wanted a My a Little Pony. He had been given some money so I said we would go shopping together. We had to go to his "favorite" store...T aka "the red store." Well, they only had bigger ones that were more than what he had to spend. We went to W and we had a few more choices. He hemmed and hawed and made a choice. Then we walked around another aisle and voila! Clearance! I explained he could buy two slightly smaller ponies for the cost of one. He decided that was an okay deal. He had difficulty (surprisingly) on choosing the second one but finally the ponies were chosen and off to home we went. The first conversation had between the ponies went like this...

By the way T is his best friend.

Stolen Moments

The scene as I look in tonight:

There sleeping on Big Zebra, half wrapped in the Elmo blanket lies my little sleeping man, sans pajamas, slightly snoring on the floor littered with blankets, cars, boxes, animals of all shapes and sizes.

The fish tank with Fish and Frog glows in the dark. In the shadows a top the lego table next to the bed and under the "art wall" that holds art and hats a kite, and various other items, sits the newly well decorated Christmas tree with Goodwill found village and "present" under the tree alongside a half train track from a garage sale.

Then I see, as I look in noting how tall he is getting and how strong he is these days with his moments of sheer chaos and constant movement and endearing "Mommy, you're the sweetest mama I could ever live with" and childhood wonder and innocent anticipation of Christmas because he can hear Santa Claus  - right now - about 90 miles away - having dreams about helping Santa make toys and being brothers with his best friend...

At that moment I notice, his angelic presence (not easily ascertained when he is tired at the end of the day in non-stop nonsensical ridiculous can't sit still won't pay attention mode) is enhanced by...

wings.

Purple glittered fairy/butterfly wings. He is sleeping in his wings which are gently folded to the side.

No photo can do justice to the mom's eye. I wish to hold that picture in my mind forever.

Was he a butterfly? a fairy? a reindeer who wanted to fly and guide the sleigh? a pterodactyl?

I don't know. All things are possible to him at this time of his life.

I reach over and gently move his arm to unwrap one wing. I roll him over and he wakes up slightly so I can pull his arm out of the other side....he smiles sweetly - a smile which he flashes every so often in a purposeful show that he is thinking about me or him and me...and says

"Mama, I love you."

Me, too buddy. Me too.

I Need to be Six...Now!!

We had a great and yet busy summer. H was very keen to be 5. He went to several summer birthdays including his best friend's birthday and was sorely disappointed that he wasn't five yet.

We began making plans for his first birthday "party" with friends. It began as an affair for maybe 4 kids with a Pa* Patro1 theme. Then dinosaurs, then animals, then zoo, then PP, then "just birthday" then....well, he fretted and worried for several weeks. Summer was ending and he was going to spend a couple of weeks at my parents. Our goal was to have his mind made up by the time he returned.

"I don't know mom, I just don't know what kind of birthday I'll have."

I tried to play down the fretting mostly so we could reach a decision and I could actually plan.

In the end, he opted for a dinosaur party with 11 friends a nice mix of friends from his two schools. A pre-question for a possible date was sent to the parents on the list - all good. A texted invite - reminder was sent the week before. Actual invitations were made (and signed by H) and mailed set to arrive a few days before with address and details....

We went shopping for dinosaur items, Pinteres* was consulted, and online shopping considered. In the end we didn't do too badly with several items were easily available at the dollar store and party store. One item on the must have list? A piñata. Yup. Thank goodness for party stores. Two other requirements?

1) It had to be a surprise (well, um ok that was hard to explain to the parents why they had to be punctual and H wouldn't be here yet)

2) No one could sing Happy Birthday (he did acquiesce that his friends could sing but only grudgingly - of note he has requested to never be sung to again - that is his least favorite part of birthdays.)

The goal was to have an outdoor party with garage central for food, gathering, games, crafts, and in case of bad weather. So, a good thing came from all the sweat and last minute running to the store...we had a cleaner garage than we have had since we moved in.

All in all the party was successful although there were a few moments of doubt.

Only 5 of the 11 kids actually showed up, while I was a bit stymied as to why that was, it turned out to be a good thing and the group was just the right size.

"I came because my mom said there would be fun and games...but there's not."

One child running slightly amok - his mom was around to herd him around.

Moments of pure chaos towards the end of grabbing too many little dinosaurs and moms yelling "No, one, just one, put that back!"

We had beautiful weather, well received cake with "lava" in the middle and dinosaurs abounding on the top (home made cake out of a box - was actually awesome and we all ate it.)

One child afraid of the dinosaur mask (see above child running slightly amok).

One child wondering where the "Dinosaur Train" was as the use of all the big boxes escaped him until the others showed him what to do.

Chalk paint was a great hit and I made so many bottles I had it down to science - tip to parents do not make up "extra large bottle" batches the night before in hopes that you can simply add color and mix the following day - those didn't work out so well but the squeeze bottles were great from Sam. (nod to the new photo on the blog -we have a good sized driveway that was covered in chalk paint.

Pure astonishment at the "hatching" foaming eggs (again have the recipe down to a science - thank you internet and Pinter...)

So, how did the day end? Well, after two solid hours of relatively successful entertainment with perfect weather, we headed off to the piñata. Our yard does not have the best trees for hanging one so we were a little off in the height. None of the little guys could get enough whack behind it to break it down. One big sis came to the rescue and was able to gain height and strength for a successful break when immediately upon the success...

H burst out bawling...Yup, you know it's a good party when all the 5 year olds end up crying at the end from exhaustion and sugar. We said our adieus and headed off for a well deserved nap.

I waited for weeks for H to come up with a saying about his next birthday. Finally, after two months of waiting....

"Mom, I need to be six...NOW!"

Mom, mom, mom

Mom, mom, mom....there's something I've wanted to tell you.

What is it honey?

I've wanted to tell you but you've been working....(EGAD guilt trip at 5)

Well, I'm not working now.

Mom, you're the sweetest mom!

Ah, thank you honey, that's very kind.

Love that boy!

Future travel plans

When are we going back to Hawaii?

I don't know but probably not with me and daddy.

Who will I go with?  Grandma and papaw?

No, probably not.

With E?

I doubt it.

Maybe I'll go with my Kaz mom and dad.

Sisters

I want to get a girl when I go get my baby in Kazakhstan. Or maybe two. 

There is a girl I met in the baby class at school. I named her sister. Well, there's two actually.

Why can't American's get a baby from Kaz any more? How about San A? 

How do babies get in mommies tummies.

Why wasn't I in your tummy.

Can I call my Kaz mommy?

That's Sad....

Mom, what does a destroyer do?

Well, it's made to blow things up.

No, what does it do?

It's made to blow things up.

No! WHAT does it DO?

( Obviously mom is now trying to determine just what the question really is....as quasi not quite five year old teenager is getting very frustrated at not getting the answer to his question....)

Do you want to know why it blows things up?

Yes. Why?

Well, sometimes people fight each other.

With destroyers?

Yes.

What happens to the other destroyers?

It gets blown up.

That's sad.....

Yes, honey, that is very sad.

I Want to Get a Baby

Mom, when I'm your age will you take me to Kazakhstan?

Oh you'll want to go before then.

Okay when I'm a big boy and almost adult will you take me to Kazakhstan?

Yes, when you are a big boy before you are adult we'll take you to Kazakhstan.

Ok. Cause I want to get a baby. I'd let him play with big boy Legos and stuff.

You would get a baby?

Uh huh. Maybe I'd get two.

What if you got a girl. Would you let her play with big boy Legos?

I don't know.

(Daddy steps in)

How would you take care of the baby? All by yourself?

No. I'd get me a mommy. Maybe someone I really like.

A girl?

No, probably T. He'd help me.

Not S or S?

No. I think T. 

Interesting Things

I brought home a front page of a newspaper a few weeks ago for H. Summer school had a fireman visit and he mentioned a big fire that had just happened a few days earlier. I happened to see the picture of that fire in the paper. H loved the picture and took it to school to show everyone.

H asked me if I could bring home more newspapers so I brought him a couple last week. He didn't really pay much attention to them I didn't think. Saturday we were getting ready for a birthday party and H found a front page picture of a car and semi truck wreck.

Mom, what happened?

A semi truck and a car ran into each other. it was a bad accident but no one was hurt thankfully.

What happened? Look I can see the front of the truck. It looks like they were on the interstate at a bridge ( he knows his transportation modes and routes.)

Yes, they were on the interstate. I don't know what happened. The paper doesn't say what happened exactly. 

But why did the car and truck run into each other? Where were they going? Did someone do something bad? Did the truck hit the car? 

I don't know the answer to any of those questions. Most often the drivers don't really know what happened.

I'm going to cut the picture out and take it to show T today at the party. he would really like it.

(After the party)

Mom, I left the picture at T's house because I thought he would really like it. Yeah, I showed it to everyone.

(After supper)

Mom! No! Dad! Those are my papers! Mom, daddy put my papers in the fire .

Oh, I'm sorry honey I thought you were done with them.

No, they were my papers. 

I'm so sorry. Daddy didn't know and  I gave him the papers for the fire.

That's ok mom. I'm not mad. I'm not mad at you.

Well, I have more rappers at work. I get one everyday. I will bring some more home for you ok?

Ok. I just really like to look at interesting things. 

Mom, will you really bring me more papers?

Yes, honey. I apologize about the others.

That's ok mom, I'm not mad. I just like to see what's going on in the world.

Parental lesson of the day: never assume a pile of ignored papers has no value or interest to the person who is seemingly ignoring them but seems astute enough to tell that the pile is his pile from a distance of 20 feet or more as they are being wadded up for fire starter....AND be astounded that your not quite five year old really pays attention to the larger world around him....and then realize that of course he does...he has since he was a baby. Dumb mom moment.

Weighty Discussions Tonight

Mom, will you be dead when I'm seventeen?

I really hope not!

Why?

Well, seventeen is not that far away. 

Oh. When I'm seventeen I will be old but not old old old like Pop (who died at 83.)

Mom, I think WillHe is dead.

Yes, honey he got sick and couldn't get better.

No, no, no I mean Howie. I think he is dead now.

Oh, well, we always hope he found a family who said here's a great funny furry cat and we'd like him to live with us.

I think he is dead and he knows POp and WillHe.

Maybe buddy maybe.

Mom, I remember something.

You do? What do you remember?

Well, we were at our house and you were there but maybe it was a dream I don't know but I think it was real but maybe not but I remember Pop.

You do?

Uh huh.

Ok. 

Sidebar: H has only seen pictures of Pop because Pop died three weeks before we met our son. We didn't know if we could travel since he was so ill...maybe he did meet him and it was in a dream...who knows. Either way I'm sure Pop loves H. 

Spelling Lessons

"Address"

"I love you."

 Around here everything can be spelled with enough O,P,S,T's and the occasional V.

Me, too, Buddy, Me, too....

Mommy, I could hug you forever.

Just One Thing I Don't Know

Mom, do you know who the king of the world is?

No. Who is it.

It's it's it's Jesus. He is the king of the world.

I see.

Mom....

Yes?

The world's created. What is creation? 

Creation means to make something.

Did he created all of the buildings and cars and stuff?  The only thing I don't know is how all the houses got here. Did the stuctor works make them?

The who? 

The structors workers.

Oh, the construction workers?

Yeah the struction workers.

Yes, they built the houses. Now go to sleep.

Night mommy. I love you.

Night buddy. I love you, too.

No Eggs on Tuesdays

Did you know if sharks have teeth that hurt there are shark dentists?

They come up to the shore and the dentists check their teeth.

I am H but also lay eggs....but on Tuesdays I don't lay eggs.

I don't like that

H's class had a "Fairy Tale Ball" at school a while ago. I am not a big fan of some of the activities the school engages in for a couple of reasons but I do try to have H participate if he so desires and not weigh in with my biases.

The class had spent the week learning about and reading nursery rhymes. At some point, we were notified that a Fairy Tale Ball would take place and the kids could dress up at fairly tale characters. This primarily meant all the girls could be princesses and have twirly dresses and the boys, well, they could come up with something like a Prince Charming.

We don't have any Prince Charming stuff. We are about all things transportation and animal kingdom. As it happens, whenever dressing up is mentioned, H wants to wear his frog costume, This is a one piece fleece frog suit gained from the school garage sale in his first year at the school for only $3. It is from Old Navy and is really well made and wears and washes well. H even wore it to the "Super" birthday party in the fall. He was the only frog. There were Super Boys and Girls and Spidermen - well you get the gist of the theme - and one frog. I have the best pictures of Super Girl and Super Boy as the frog H hops around.

H loves froggie. So, he wanted to wear froggie to the school dress up "Fairy Tale Ball." It occurred to me that work as the "Enchanted Prince."

Mommy, the what? I don't want to be a Prince. I'm a frog!

The designated day came and all manner of "fancy" dresses appeared and some Prince Charming outfits and some not so much were worn by the boys. There were treats, music, and dancing. A picture was taken of H with one of his favorite girl classmates - imagine an old school snow white dancing with the frog and you get the picture - very cute I might add.

Anyway, that night during talking time when he talks in an effort to keep me from leaving the room so he has to go to bed, the topic turned to the day's events.

Did you have a good day today?
No.
Did you have fun at the ball?
No. I liked the dancing.
Well, what didn't you like about the ball?
Mommy, they made fun of me wearing froggy.
Who did?
The kids in my class.
I'm sorry honey. Who made fun of you?
My friends.
I'm sorry to hear that. Sometimes people are not very nice. Did it upset you?
Uh huh. I didn't like that.

The sound of a Mommy heart breaking....

Tightscapade

H wanted to wear an outfit like a ballerina we saw in a book. Basically the girls were dressed in leotards but the book called them Three Ballerinas. He knew there was some other kind of "thing" the girls wore for ballerinas that twirled when they spin around. So, I said we could get an outfit like that. I was able to find the ideal items at the local WM but opted for tights and a shirt with slip ones instead of the leotards for obvious reasons. Then I happened upon that other "thing." Yes I found the perfect pink tutu. Simple in design and likely washable, he could twirl like the dancers he saw which is what he really wanted to do with the whole out fit.

When I returned home with my finds, H was ecstatic - as much as he shows his excitement which is by slightly animated talking with a shine in his eyes and intense interest in the items at hand. H is not a highly excitable kid but if you know you can read him pretty well.

Mom, look now I can twirl! See!

Mom, I really like these pants. are these pants? 

They are really warm and I like how comfortable they are on my legs! 

Understand H has not worn jeans more than twice since he turned TWO and I had to stop putting him in jean overalls to begin potty training (at his request.) I might add he was the cutest thing in his jean overalls and they withstood everything!

So, H was quite happy with this arrangement. To appease both dad and H, he was allowed to wear the tights under his other cotton soft pants if we went to the store but he would randomly put them on and wander around the house.

So, I was not too surprised when he came home with this question one day but a little surprised because he is a bit reserved when sharing information. 

"Why do they call me a girl? I told them about my new pants and they called me a girl?"

"Did you tell your friends at school about your tights?"

"YES! And I told them they were pink." 

I was sad that he was sad about this statement as we often discuss what makes things "boy" or "girl" and it is not clothes, toys, colors, jobs, etc, and he really enjoyed the whole experience in its innocence.

Well, mom sprang into action and thank goodness for the internet!

"H, did you know that in Kaz boys wear tights when it gets cold? Boys in other parts of the world wear tights kind of like we might wear long underwear (which is a foreign concept to a NE TX child except when mom occasionally wears them) and often wear shorts over them?"

I went to our resource group and requested pics of cute boys in tights and we were set.

But, even better, I found where to order cute boys tights - cars and trucks - and ordered three pair for different stages - and he loves them. Thank you worldwide shopping optionson the internet and some enterprising retailer in Poland! Granted, they are not as exciting colors as the rainbow striped with purple polka dots are we found at GoodW but we have a variety of choices now and sadly the pink ones are now outgrown.

Oh and the tutu? H stll wears when he feels like though sadly the sparkly slip on tennis shoes lasted a week as he outgrew them that fast. This past weekend he and his friend played dress up and were alternately fairies, dinosaurs, ballerinas, and Optimus P. I might add it made the clothing choice for after swimming this week, too. Since we have to use the ladies locker room and the senior group swims after us we received a few amused and mother knowing looks as we went out the door. Of course dinosaur themed pj bottoms, a pink tutu, and old shirt with school logo all under mom's jacket - because he insisted he did not need his own even though it was in the 30's - made for quite the eclectic look.

Up next? A blue jay costume home made. Maybe I will get that done before he outgrows the pants and shirt.

P-r-e-t-z-e-l

Catching up on some H moments....

Had a "Gran" time on spring break. They played and read and drew and generally wore each other out - as it should be.

H has started to want to "nose" kiss. Not sure where it comes from but it's adorable and these days i will take adorable whenever I can.

It's amazing when there are just those moments when you glimpse a window into the not so distant future. There are times when I catch H in a picture and can look at it and see the boy he will be come. Gran and H picked me up from work one day during spring break. It was warm and they had been playing and swinging outside. I recently got out the shorts and Tshirts for the summer. When I got to the car H had on a size 5 Tshirt....he's dying to wear his fives....and I could just see "little" boy no more. For that brief moment he was in full size boy mode. Growing so fast this year.

Gran, if you go to Sam's H can have a p-r-e-t-z-e-l.
What? What Mommy? What can I get at Sam's?
Oh, nothing. Gran knows.
Yes! Yes! I want a pretzel. I like the cinnamon kind. They're my favorite.

M-a-r-c-h

March.

That's correct. We are in the month of March.

Is it summer yet? Can we go to summer before spring?

I want to go ice skating....

H-T-L-S spells Monster Truck. I love monster trucks.

When I Get Big

Mom, I know why the dinosaurs died. 

Why?

They boomed up.

They did?

Uh huh.

Well, we don't really know why but we think a big meteor crashed into earth and changed the climate.

What's a big meteor?

A big space rock.

What happened when it crashed?

We think it crashed and exploded. 

Mom, that's why the dinosaurs boomed up they got caught by the sun.

Did you know the sun is a big ball of fire?

It is!?

Yes. 

Mom, when I get big and grow up to be a spaceman, I'm going to go up and look for cracks.

Are you expecting cracks in space?

No. I'm going up to look down for cracks.

Oh, you're going to go up in space and look down on earth for cracks?

Yes. And when I grow up and get big I'm going to dig real deep in the cracks and find HUGE dinosaur bones.

Some day you just might buddy, someday you might.

Trying to figure it all out....

Why butterflies die ' for us?

Mom, will Grandma die?

Yes, some day.

Mom, is Grandma quite old.

No, not really.

Is Grandma a little old?

Yes, she's a little old.

Why?

How Do You Get...

a baby in your tummy? Do they swim?

Well, a baby does swim in a mommy's tummy.
Why?
That's how they live in a mommy's tummy until they are born - in fluid - swimming.
Long long long long ago did you have a baby in your tummy?
No, I didn't have a baby in my tummy.
NO! Were you a baby in a tummy?
Yes, I was a baby in Grandma's tummy long ago.
How?
That's where babies live.
But how?
Well, a mommy and a daddy make a baby in a tummy.
How?
It's a special magic
What kind of special magic?
Oh just magic.
I wish I had that special magic.

Borned

Mom where was I borned?
In Kazakstan.
Where did I live as a baby?
First you lived in a hospital.
Then where?
You went to live at a baby house with other babies until we could meet you and bring you home.

Mom, where was Grandma/Papaw/Daddy/you born? (various answers provided)
Where was I when you were born?
You weren't born yet.
I used to live in a hospital when I was a baby?
Yes and then you lived in a baby house until we could meet you and bring you home.
Mom I wish you were born in Kazakhstan like me.

And then a little quiet voice said....

We have been having rough nights lately. Daddy has gone back to work and H has gone back to school. He loves school (asking every couple of days if he could go back yet during break) but it wears him out for awhile. I thought we would find our groove after the first week but alas there are still some issues. 

H finally got to sleep last night with some help of medicine for a sore thumb. He has been coming in to sleep on the floor sometime in the night for a couple of months now (keeping in mind this kid slept on his bedroom floor for nearly a year so it is not as strange as it first seems.) Sometimes it is almost 6 (preferred) but sometimes it is much earlier. Last night it was about 11. 

Even with the medicine he woke up complaining and whimpering about his thumb somewhere around 5 am. I let him climb into bed with me in the hopes he would settle back down. After much rotating in which I always seem to lose blanket coverage and pillow territory, he did go back to sleep. 

About an hour later this announcement was made in a tiny little early morning voice:

"I'm a purple lizard."

What could be better than that?