“…I’ve seen better days…”

Remember this guy and this one?

Let’s just say they have been WELL loved.  And that this Christmas gift is actually “needed.”  He is gonna flip about that!  We are so excited.  But I thought it was really sweet…we were talking about these poor Herbies yesterday, and Caleb said it would actually be just fine if Santa brought a new wheel for the very well loved Herbie his mommy painted.

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Since I live burrowed deep inside a hole, we watched the Polar Express for the first time last year.  I was captivated by that movie, I found my eyes welling up with tears, oh, say, nine different times or so!  As you’re growing up, Christmas really does lose that ‘magical’ feel to it.  But don’t worry, when you have kids, you get it all back.  I don’t know which side is more fun to be on…laying anxiously in your bed listening intently for bells and hooves on your roof, or in the living room playing Santa and putting bicycles together until the wee hours of the morning, making sure everything is just right.  I can’t remember my parents doing anything spectacular to play into the magic of Santa, but I know I believed, probably longer than most kids.  I get very wrapped up in holiday traditions with Caleb.  Trying to give him every experience to the fullest.  Christmas obviously tops that list.  I feel like I need blueprints and an event manager for this coming Christmas Eve, but here’s what I worked up in my head during lunch today.

I’ve always gotten Caleb a special pair of pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve.  Last year, the special pajamas became “Santa’s magical tracking pajamas.”  This is Santa’s way of knowing when all little boys and girls are in their beds fast asleep.  Last year, I wrote a note and signed it from the big guy himself on very fancy paper, and the elf ran out the backdoor and around the side of the house ducking past windows flew from the North Pole and delivered the box of pajamas and the letter to our front porch.

This year, Santa’s elf will deliver the Christmas Tracking Jammies, along with Chris VanAllsburg’s The Polar Express to the doorstep.  Being from the North Pole, his little shoes are covered with snow that will be tracked on the porch (baking soda and salt mixed in a spice shaker with a shoe print cut from a paper plate as a stencil).  One of Caleb’s gifts is a Polar Express train set from Toys R’Us.  A set that just so happened to include a large silver bell on a red ribbon.  This first gift of Christmas (just the bell) will be hiding under our tree when we finish reading the book.  If I can, I even want to find red and white striped wrapping paper (or fabric) just like the movie.  Of course we’ll drink hot chocolate while we’re reading.  Caleb likes to carry his lunch over to the table (an independence thing), so he puts the plate on the palm of his hand and holds it up like a waiter and sings “Ooo, we got it!  Hot hot! Yeah we got it!  Hot Chocolate!  Here we’ve only got one rule.  Never ever let it cool!…”

Next year, we’ll be checking out the Elf on a Shelf Christmas tradition (Val I thought of you and was going to send you a link to this, but I see it has already been mentioned, lol!)  The website includes a non flash version, but I must say, the flash version is very impressive and fun.  The jist of the tradition is that an elf sits quietly in your house, from the beginning of the holiday season (around Thanksgiving) watching your child(ren)’s behavior.  They can talk to him, but he is sworn to secretcy, thus cannot talk back.  Each morning he returns from reporting in at the North Pole, to sit in a different spot around the house.

So for those of you who have children, what special traditions do you do every year with the kids?  If you don’t have kids, what do you remember from your childhood that your parents did and/or what do you plan to do with your children one day?

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He didn’t quite get through the song as perfectly as he usually does, but all his practicing has paid off.  Rudolph is topping the charts coming in as the number one request at family events and get togethers now.

As for the commentary in between songs…I was standing with my back to the window almost right up against it and apparently the little kitty from the video below felt it necessary to attack my bee-hind through the glass.

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I realize that you are proud of yourself, I do.  And I know you are just practicing.  But belting out Rudolph the red nose reindeer at the top of your lungs any time you sense that I may be talking to anyone over the age of say, three, is not always appropriate.  And “practicing” in a whisper voice until two hours past your bedtime last night was annoying at best.  But yet, I feel this crooked little smile creep across my face everything I think about it.  I dare say it is your favorite song of the season.

I love how captivated you are by all the old holiday classics this year.  We watched It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown around Halloween, and we are waiting on A Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty.  Luckily we caught Rudolph on the DVR last night.  You drag out the last word, “hiiiisss-tooooor-ryyyyy,” in true Burl Ives fashion.  We will be participating in the A Christmas Story 24 hour marathon this year, as we have for the last several years.  One day you’ll understand the meaning of electric sex glowing in the window, but I had better not ever hear the F-dash-dash-dash word come out of your mouth.  Somehow waiting on the pink nightmare to descend the stairs just never becomes old.

I pulled out a new book that arrived in the mail yesterday, A Very Marley Christmas.  Even without seeing the cover, you knew immediately what book I had, just by looking at the shredded first page where it is illustrated to look like Marley tried to eat the book.  I read it to you as you finished your lunch, and thankfully you didn’t choke.  But you did laugh so hard you couldn’t breathe.

I know you make a point to never forget anything.  I mean really, remembering the parking garage from when we went to see Diego Live?  You were two years and three months old.  And you remembered it a year later.  One day I’m going to ask you what your earliest memory is.  You’ll probably say “I opened my eyes and the world was upside down with this rude doctor looming over me.”  But if you had to pick one thing to forget, please release the memory of peeking into your big Santa gift last night.  Pretend it never happened.  That was most definitely just a chunk of white styrofoam.  And green.  Not a cow tractor from FAO Schwarz.  It is in pieces all jumbled up in a box.  No stickers (cow spots) even on it yet.  You aren’t supposed to be able to tell what it is anyway.  How did you get so smart?

Kiddo, sometimes you shock the socks right off of me with the things you say.  Other days you make me laugh hysterically with the things you do.  Then there are the days that you push the envelope until I’m so irate I am just seeing red.  But every day, it feels like I love you more than any one person has ever loved another since the beginning of time.  This whole mom gig certainly has its perks.

Love,
Me

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Caleb and I went to my mom and dad’s house for a few days.  My mom cooked a wonderful meal, and even sent me home with leftovers.  Scott drove up on Saturday to meet us and go to the children’s museum.  It was also my mom’s birthday so we went out for a birthday lunch before heading back this way.  I had meant to post pictures on Turkey day of Caleb’s shirt, but my camera did not appreciate being plugged in via a USB cord and refused to allow access to the pictures I had taken (our computer has a built in card reader, my moms card reader of course does every type of card except the compact flash cards that the bigger/SLR cameras use.  Anyway, I cut all these pieces out several weeks ago, and it figures, you know me, I was gluing them on at 12am the night before Thanksgiving.  And I didn’t get a single good picture of it/him while we were there.  I thought it turned out pretty cute though.

The body is made of his shoe prints laid over each other (heel at the top) and of course the feathers are his hand prints.

I did the back too

Caleb picked at food as he always does when we are away from home, and was so busy, he forgot to drink very much either.  I think he had about five cups of milk yesterday, and when it came time to eat, he climbed up in his chair quickly and said “push me back [to the table] and bib me up!”  I think I actually spit drink through my nose.

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And no, I don’t keep up with your age in months any more.  I had to count it out on my fingers.  Forty three is quite a large number, can it really be right?  I remember in my pre-parent experience with children, 2-3 year olds were always my favorite.  They are still small enough to seem babyish but old enough to be independent, generally speaking.  And now, seeing you at three and a half, I find myself wishing, like many other ages, I could just put you on hold for a bit.  Stop you from getting any older.  Even on the days I feel as if I might pull my hair out, you are just so gosh darn cute, I can’t help but smile.

  1. I love that you separate the heart marshmellows out of your Lucky Charms and save them beside your bowl for last.
  2. I hope that one day you can hear your little boy or girl tell you “Mom and Dad, you are de most perfect parents I ever saw.  I wuv you.”
  3. I love that you run in the bathroom, stripping your clothes off along the way, slam the door closed, only to yell that you need me as soon as you get on the potty.  Privacy is overrated.
  4. I can’t help but laugh when I see nekid buns tearing down the hall!
  5. And when I was outside trying to unload the car at night, you planted your little potty, the one you never use, right smack in front of the full view glass front door to strip and go potty.
  6. You politely turned heiney toward the neighborhood.
  7. And then you held your shirt under your chin (the only remaining clothing) and hollered out the door that you needed help with your underwear.
  8. I love how dramatic you are, the enthusiasm with which you approach everything.
  9. Including bugs
  10. I love that you tell me you love me at least 20 times a day.
  11. And you always give hugs and kisses.
  12. At night, you always have to tell me just one more thing.  “I hafta tell you just one more thing.  Again.” you say.
  13. You understand my neurotic organization of your vehicles by scale and type (Monster trucks, Cars [the movie] cars, Hot Wheels, bigger scale cars, trains, they each have their own container)
  14. Sometimes I think you have ADHD, until I pull out a book. You will sit as long as I will read.
  15. You love the Skippyjon Jones series, thus you regularly refer to people as wittle crumbcakes or bunny boots and my personal favorite, Mr. McPooh.
  16. You like to read books to me from memory.
  17. Your mind works faster than your mouth.  You get so excited trying to get it all out that you trip over your words.
  18. A kiss and some good hugs can still fix most anything.
  19. You look darn tootin cute in a hat.
  20. The last thing you say to me at night absolutely must be “Good night, I love you, sweet dreams.” If you happen to think of something else you just have to tell me, you have to say the good night sentence again when you’re done.
  21. You are thrilled to go outside and play with rocks, sticks, “flowers,” which are actually weeds, and finding a dandelion is like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
  22. You always pick those “flowers” for me.
  23. You aren’t a morning person. You pull the covers over your head fussing that it is too bright! And I think you would stay up well past midnight if I let you.  Wonder where you got that from?  Hmph.
  24. You are still small enough to climb underneath the round ottoman in the middle of your granny’s living room. It is like a little tent or cave that you hide in, squealing with delight whenever someone exclaims “where’s Caleb?”
  25. You take the tires off of EVERYthing.
  26. You never forget anything.
  27. Herbie is a brand of car.  Like Ford, Chevrolet, and Herbie.  Every VW bug is a Herbie.  Scott tries to interest you in high dollar Ferraris, but you really just love a 50 year old car that was $1500 brand spanking new and loaded.
  28. You can spot a Herbie from half a mile.  You even check my mirrors!  I pulled in a parking lot and by the time I was out and opening your door to get you out, you were excitedly exclaiming “Dare’s a Herbie, right dare!!”  When I asked where, you replied “In da mirror!”  Sure enough when I leaned in front of your seat, I could see the back end of a new model Herbie several rows over.
  29. The King Krunch monster truck will be an important stocking stuffer, no doubt.  We’ve been looking for it for eight months or so.  You’ll love it.  But not as much as the Herbies.
  30. You told me a few nights ago that I was ‘such a character.’  Then you put your hand over your eyes and tucked your chin down and just laughed shaking your head.  Where do you get these expressions from?  And the ability to apply them in the correct circumstance.
  31. You ran straight up to a little girl, complete stranger, in Kmart last night.  I kept thinking you would stop in front of her.  Nope, you wrapped your arms around her for a big bear hug.  She shied away, and her mom just started laughing, and said “Aw isn’t he sweet?!”
  32. Sometimes you get impatient waiting to get cleaned up after meals and yank your bib off, defeating the purpose of the ‘crumb-catcher’ as it dumps the contents on the floor.  Yes you still wear a bib.  Something to talk about in therapy later.  At least you’ll be wearing clean clothes at our appointment.  Anyway, I give you the dustbuster to take responsibility for your mess.  It turns into more of a reward than a “punishment.”  In fact, you yanked your bib off after breakfast and after the sound of showering cereal crumbs on the floor, you said, “Now I need da dustbuster!”  As it so happens, you are not only content to clean up your mess, but also to vacuum half the house with it.  Which works in my favor anyway.
  33. You correct adults’ English.
  34. You approach everything with a loving heart.  Bugs found inside need to go back outside with their family.  Cars and trucks must be tucked into bed.
  35. I hope I’ll always be able to remember how you say “Oh no no no no” like Petrie from The Land Before Time.
  36. It’s not that I want you to wake up grumpy (you got that honestly), but I do enjoy those extra cuddles before you’re ready to face the world again after sleeping.
  37. In case you didn’t get the memo, putting your hands over your eyes and actually saying the words “Boo Hoo” is not considered crying.
  38. You are keeping the yogurt factories in business.
  39. Milk too.
  40. I think you actually know that you are classic entertainment when we are visiting with family.  I think it is because you like to make people smile.
  41. I love the passionate, caring, and independent big person you are becomming.
  42. I love the needing, gentle, and compassionate little person that you are.
  43. I love you.  With all my heart.

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You ever have those moments after you say something to your child you think about what you just said…out of context, it would be one strange sentence.  Like for instance:

“I looked between your legs already, there’s no pudding on your pants.”

If someone was listening in, that would probably sound pretty strange.  Caleb managed to get pudding on his booster seat piece in between his legs that prevents him from sliding out of the chair and under the table (which knowing our meal struggles, he most certainly would do).  Somehow he still managed to climb down from his chair without getting any on him though.

Does that ever happen to you, and you chuckle to yourself about how strange it might sound if someone just overheard the sentence?

I know my son does his fair share of shocking things too.  Like for instance when he found a star sticker at my mother inlaw’s the other night.  I don’t even know where he got the sticker, but when contemplating where to put it, wouldn’t you know he decided on the dead center of her boob?  Before the room could erupt into laughter, he exclaimed “Granny Gooch, you have BIG boobs, just like my mom!!”  *hides in another room*

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First, watch this.  Sorry about the big watermark stamp thing.  I found a way to download videos from youtube.  Problem number one solved.  It was the MPEG4 format, so I couldn’t edit the video at all to cut out the seven minutes I didn’t need.  So I had to convert it to a different file format, thus the big watermark.  Problem two solved.  Kind of.  Oh well, it is mostly for your hearing purposes anyway.

Now picture yourself in the living room with your seventy eight year old mother inlaw and your sister inlaw.  Your three year old pipes up “Pussy pussy pussy pussy.”

Now there’s one way to raise some eyebrows!

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A B C D E F G H I Y KELLER MELLER P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.  Now I know your ABC’s, next time won’t you play wif me.

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Oh I’m not that bad.  I just know how to use a clone stamp tool, so I took out the “non-” from in front of “alcoholic” and even recentered it.  ;)

He hasn’t tried this yet, but in all seriousness, I picked up a new kind at the store also, “Sugar Cookie Eggnog.”  Can I just say wow?  It is like melted ice cream or something!  He did like that!  I gave him a few little spoonfuls.  Okay and a tablespoon or so in his milk.  He thinks it is quite tasty.  It is just funny to hear your toddler say “More eggnog pwease!”

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