Funny Stuff Johnny Says

The other day, we pull into a parking lot and Johnny spots two average-looking people getting off a motorcycle.  They had big black helmets on.  He points and says, "Yook... bad guys."

That's my sheltered suburban boy... middle class 50-somes are "bad guys".  Pretty nice life.

Moving

Okay, I would not consider myself a deeply sentimental person.  I can part with objects in a closet for the sake of de-cluttering and moving on.  I don't hang on to every birthday card I've received in the past 30-some years.  I enjoy a hardy trip to Goodwill to part with items we don't need anymore.  After cleaning out a drawer, I like to pull it open and admire it a few times, just to remind myself that I am in charge of my stuff, it's not in charge of me.  

However... as we pack up to move, I am feeling these strange pangs of sadness over my stuff and space.  This is new to me and I didn't anticipate it.  I walk through rooms and think "Awww... this is where we brought Howie home from the hospital to spend his first night in the world after being born," or "This is the floor where Johnny learned to roll over as an infant," or "This is the deck where we hosted some great parties."  

As we box things up and move to a new place with more space and bigger closets... I pause to remember some of the important places in our house of 10 years.   I pause at the sight of Howie's little hands stamped on his bedroom walls with Aquaphor, the dent in the living room wall that Jake made with his doggie cage, the random holes around our yard where the boys have been secretly digging, the "pond" that my dear husband cleaned out over and over again because I liked it, the fence where I took countless Christmas pictures, and the growth marks on the wall in the kitchen.  

We love you 8110.  

You have been good to us.  

Thank you for 10 years of great living.  

Mr. Redlegs

Our dear friend, Nolan, had his 4th birthday.  A baseball party at the park.  

We did some running drills, played a little ball and hydrated with these cute bottles of water with the children's names on them.  

It was a perfect day with just the right amount of breeze.  

And then... Mr. Redlegs showed up.  

The look on Nolan's face was sheer delight.  His idol, standing before him.  

Happy Birthday Nolan.  

We love you buddy.

The things that come out of my mouth... (Part II)

Today I had to say to Johnny, "No Honey.  We don't lick trees."

Preschool Engineers

I got an odd shaped box in the mail from fabric.com.  

Without hesitation, Howie was asking about it, 

"Can I have that box when you are done with it Mommy?  I want to make a tunnel for my cars."  

Of course, I cannot let my fabric sit in a box for more than 5 minutes after arrival, 

so Howie inherited the box right away.  

He and Johnny found a sufficient car supply in the house and went to town.  

They tried all sorts of heights by putting one end of the box up on the couch, the steps, the blocks (the engineer part).  And then they took turns rolling the cars down, while the other stood at the end and squealed with delight when the car came shooting out (the preschool part).  

After observing this, one cannot argue that a child's play is their work.  Don't you agree?

Oh Beautiful Day!

It was the first day of preschool today!  

Howie was a bundle of different emotions as he faced the new day.  Scared, excited, but mostly happy.  This is his first lunch experience away from the home which is a brave, new world for this Momma of the allergy kid.  Letting go of his hand this morning was a little more heart lurching than usual.  

But that's my job, right?!  

Preparing him for the brave, new world... then letting go of his hand.  

Gulp.

I miss him.  And I'm not the only one who misses him.  

Johnny has whimpered, "Howie?" about 20 times throughout the morning.  

However... upon returning home sans Howie, Johnny quickly discovered that he could touch and play with the forbidden things such as Howie's kitty cat or the entire block bin.  

But alas, "things" are much less important than our dear Howie.  

We can't wait to go pick him up.  

Johnny's Words

Johnny has a rapidly expanding vocabulary at the two year mark.  He is trying with all his might to communicate and be understood.  Here are a few of the bigger words he knows...