Sometimes...

Sometimes I don't mind when my 5-year-old

gets me in the middle of the night

because he wet the bed.

Especially when I tuck him in again and he gives me a sweet smile

(lips closed, eyes crinkly)

and says so very sweetly,

"I love you mom."

I really don't mind that at all.

Guess who...

LOVES the trampoline?

She laughed and laughed.

A cute baby belly laugh that spreads from one person to the next until everybody else is laughing too.

Natalie, Andrew and I were laughing and jumping and laughing with Amelia (James was napping).

Andrew, midst his jumps and laughs, said, "It's so fun to have a laughing baby!"

I really think we'll have to do that again.

What animal am I?

In a family game of animal charades the other night, John started us off with a lion. Next came Andrew.

He stomped around with a fierce look and a loud growl. His arms scratching at the air.

We guessed. Lion, Tiger, Bear, and then didn't really know where to go from there.

Finally we gave up.

"I'm a T-Rex!"

Yes, he was.

Sums it up

I was asked to bring Amelia into Andrew's primary class soon after she was born. Andrew gave the opening prayer. After blessing everyone to have a lovely day at church, etc. he threw in a very fitting plea for me:

"And bless mom to get more sleep."

Amen.

Table talk

At dinner the other night Natalie said she felt sick.  Because she regularly tells us that something hurts or she doesn't feel well, I wasn't worried.  But I did remind everyone what to do if you feel like you have to throw up.  

If you have to throw up, where do you go?  Bathroom...toilet, etc.

There was a pause as everyone continued to eat and then Andrew added in all seriousness, "And if you have a frog in your throat, you have to go to the lake."

You lost what?

We had to run to the pool store yesterday.  I loaded everyone in the car, sat down in my seat and Andrew says from the back, "Mom, I lost my tooth!"

What?

Tooth?  

He's five!  Can kids lose their teeth at five?  I thought it was more like seven.  And was his tooth even loose?  How could I not know that?

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got out of the car, opened the back door and climbed in by him.  What I found was a hole where his tooth used to be on the bottom. 

And sure enough...when he said he "lost" his tooth, he really meant he pulled it out, threw it and had no idea where it was.   

It took me a while to figure out what happened really.  I don't think he even knew.  And he suddenly started crying for no reason for about 3 seconds.  I  think he was as confused as I was and I think he was worried he had somehow done something he wasn't supposed to and was reluctant to say what had happened. So I couldn't really get an accurate story from him.  Natalie finally stepped in and showed me with her hand how he reached in his mouth, pulled out the tooth, and threw it.

Did you bump it?  No.  I saw no bleeding, he said it didn't hurt.

This was nothing like what I pictured losing the first tooth would be like!  Finally, after some confused moments, I started getting excited and telling him how great...his first tooth, the tooth fairy, etc.

Last night when he was going to bed, I said, "Congratulations, Andrew!  Your first tooth!  You are so big!"  And he said, "Why did you say Congratulations, mom?"

There is still no sign of the tooth, so we decided we would try to find it today again.  If we don't have any luck, we'll be writing a note to the tooth fairy tonight.  And he might be surprised to find money under his pillow because he was telling us yesterday that the tooth fairy will bring him a new tooth.  Hope he's not disappointed.  

I still can't believe my five-year-old lost his first tooth.  He did get all his teeth really early, so maybe he is going to lose them early also.  It just seems like a milestone I'm not quite ready for.  He is growing up too fast!

Graduation

Andrew graduated from preschool last week.  And yes, it was a big deal around here.  He has asked why he hasn't started kindergarten yet.  He is so excited to go!  

Above-Andrew singing as loud as he can.  And yes I am due in about a month...and yes you can tell in my face.

He has grown up so much in the last two years and so this graduation really was a little milestone in his little life.  In fact, his teacher gave me a big hug and said "He is so ready for kindergarten."  I knew that what she didn't say, but meant, was, "Boy he has come a long way."  He has had some rough spots and has had to learn how to be a little more flexible than he is naturally inclined to be.  But he has really come a long way.  I am so proud of our little graduate!!  

Natalie was toting Frenchy (the dog) and a giant teapot that day.

Andrew was so excited that Grandma and Dad came to the graduation.  In fact, later that day he said to me a few times, "I was so happy that Daddy came to my graduation!" And when John got home that night, Andrew ran up to him, gave him a big hug and a kiss and said, "Daddy! Thanks for coming to my graduation!"

Arizona Rain

Rain around here is a pretty big deal. Just watch any of the weather reports when we get a little bit of "weather."

Yesterday afternoon, Andrew came racing into the kitchen yelling, "MOM! MOM! IT'S RAINING OUTSIDE!!!' Then he and his friend, Eric, grabbed the umbrella on hand (which is falling apart) and raced outside into the sprinkles.

After a few moments, they raced back inside.

Fly in a cup

What an exciting day. Not only did we have pancakes for breakfast (yes, those are chocolate chips...for breakfast), but at dinner, Natalie caught a fly in a cup.


She really did.

She came up behind it slowly and put that cup right on top of the fly. And the fly just let itself be caught. But then Natalie wanted to feed the fly. When she lifted the cup up to share her dinner with the fly, away the fly flew.


But about 20 minutes later, the fly was back and this time Andrew cupped that fly.

It really was an exciting day.

ps--my kids really did get dressed that day. It's just hard to keep them that way!

Waiting for the right moment

We headed to a local dairy farm this morning. It was free admission today and that was enough to get me excited. It was just great to be outside. We didn't have too much time to spend given the amount of time it took me to get out the door with my little kids, but it was definitely worth it.

First, the "hay" ride from the car to the entrance was a treat.

Then there was a maze with painting inside. Definitely a treat.

And homemade ice cream. And the cookie dough ice cream was blue. That was a treat.

But my favorite part of the whole farm was watching Andrew in the hay. First, you must know that Andrew has been an extremely cautious child. But every year I see more of that cautiousness disappear. So, I was excited that he had even climbed to the top of this hay stack. And then he wanted to jump. Way to go!

But that is where it got funny. He was up there for a while waiting for the "perfect" moment to jump down. And from where I was, I gathered that the perfect moment was one where nobody was up top with him, and nobody was anywhere even in his peripheral vision up top or down low.
So he would crouch ready to jump, would stay in that position for a little bit shaking his hands and with a big grin. But then he would say, "Hey!" and "Hey!" and "Hey!" as kids continued to go where he didn't want them to go. He would stand back up, address the masses that weren't listening, and then he would crouch again. This went on for a while.



My friend Vicky and I were at the bottom just laughing.

But finally I guess the coast was completely clear because...

He looks pretty pleased

Hoping to use this picture at Natalie and Seth's wedding some day ;-)

More bedtime advice

Once again, Andrew left his best advice for last. It was on my 5th or 6th attempt to close the door as I was saying good night. The other "Mom!"s resulted in him commenting on something we should do the next day, or telling me that he only liked sleeping under one blanket.

But the final one was a gem...

"Mom, make sure you look out for exits!"

Thanks again, Andrew.