A busy weekend!

I know I'm late in posting this, but last Saturday turned out to be pretty exciting! Brent and I went up to my sisters house to visit with them and my Dad, who was only in town for a few days. And then we found out two of my aunts were going to stop by, who I haven't seen in years! They've gotten to read about Brent here, but never had met him before.

So it was a full house. Six kids, but luckily 5 of us to watch them. We made balloon animals, went to the park and shot off rocket balloons (don't worry, I hadn't heard of them either, but it was fun!). I always leave it to my sister to find bizarre things, and she never lets me down.

Of course Brent was a little shy at first, but he always is. And soon everyone was playing as if they'd known each other forever. It was a little bittersweet - as I know it will be awhile before I get to see my Dad again, but YES one of these days I'll get out to colorado - I promise!

Then on Sunday, we went to little Lucy's birthday party. The amount of princess stuff was a little blinding, and sickening, but she sure was in heaven! At one point she was decked out in her princess dress, and tiera, and earrings and neckaces. And Brent snuck over and whispered in my ear "She's SO pretty!". He was right! And her ear to ear smile capped it off perfectly!

The only drawback is that he's been asking me EVERY DAY if it's his birthday yet. He SO wants to be in the middle of the room opening toys for an hour. Poor kid. I get that though.

Mixing it up

Since the two of us are cooped up in this apartment a lot lately, I've been going to the dollar store and getting little crafts projects, or puzzles, etc. for us to do in the evenings. Brent loves the puzzles, and he's gotten to the point where he can do them in entirety even the first time for the 25 piece ones. The 63 piece puzzles are a little trickier, but he still does them with minimal help.

He still does that thing where, when he's concentrating on something, he'll make an "O" shape with his mouth and his tongue darts in and out like a snake. I'll have to get that on video sometime - it's really bizarre.

Anyways, the other day I got this little train piggy bank (or money bank? since it's not a pig?) and it came with some paint and a paintbrush so you could decorate it yourself. So the first part of the evening was spent telling him every 2 minutes that we would do it after dinner. Gosh I just never get tired of that! [best sarcastic voice]

Finally he scarfed down the last of his food and we set to work. I say "we" because these things tend to be very hard for me. I know that I cant stifle his creativity, but his instinct is to always mix all the colors together when he paints, resulting in all of his artwork taking on a quality I like to call "mud". There they were, four beautiful colors: blue, green, yellow and red - vibrant and ready to turn that white train into a masterpiece. And yet I knew soon they would all be one nice shade of...well...caca.

So he starts by taking a big blob of blue and painting the hole that the money was supposed to go in. We take a break to clear that out, so that the bank might someday function.

Then he places a large amount of paint into the funnel cup, which I predict silently will take maybe 5 days to completely dry (we're on day 3 and still it's mucky). And then he gets down to business. For each stroke, he first places the brush in the blue paint, then the green, then the red, then the yellow. "I'm mixing it mommy!!," he squeals delightfully as sweat starts to build on my brow. I don't know why this should bother me - I try so hard to let him create as he wishes. But the artist within me always fights it. I've loved to paint all my life, and it seems like such a strange way to do things.

Over and over...each time dipping it into each color before applying it. Luckily after a few minutes they were all the same color, and it didn't hurt quite as much to watch. I get numb, I suppose.

But what do I know - have you seen my latest portrait? Maybe he left off my mouth so I won't criticize him while he's painting!

Home again at last

I'd like to say that the 4 hour trip consisted mostly of him smiling, but his grumpiness was hopefully an indication of how much fun he had at his Dad's over the weekend. And now we have enough candy to last about 2 months, so I'm sure that's what he was thinking when he took a break from his growling and grumping to pose for the camera.

But we made it - we're home again at last. I missed getting to spend Easter with him doing something fun. But to me, Easter is about rebirth and renewal, and is one more reminder of what a blessing having him in all of our lives is.

Love you, little bunny...

Better than Christmas

We all have bad days...days where our minds and hearts are heavy...days where we are distracted and missing the beauty that is all around us. Today was one of those days for me, and while we were riding home tonight, I tried valiantly to place that aside and put my focus back where it needed to be.

I pointed out the window - "Brent, do you see all those trees! Spring is here, and look at all the white flowers that are blossoming on them!" He got so excited... "White flowers! So beautiful! Do you like flowers mommy?" "Well of course I do, baby," I said. "I'm going to get you some flowers, okay mommy!?"

And we talked some more on the way home, about odds and ends....about the rain and how the drops danced on the window...about how excited he is to go see Daddy tomorrow. We talked about which of Grandmum and Grandpaps dogs he likes best (it's Maggie, today...he said I can have Emily), and how his tummy was empty and he wanted to eat.

When we got home, he ran out of my hands and over into the grassy area off the sidewalks. I fussed at him impatiently to go up to the door and wait for me, juggling all the daily things I have to carry in from the car. And when I got to him, he was leaning down and before I could tell him not to pick the dandelion...that flowers were more beautiful if you left them there...he snatched it up and held it up to me. "See Mommy...I got you flowers today!" And even an impatient mommy has to drop everything and give that boy the biggest hug.

"Happy mommy?," he asked. I wished I could have answered more, but my muffled "Mmmmm Hmmm" was all I could manage with that lump in my throat.

Slick

The last couple nights, Brent hasn't wanted to go to bed on time. I love daylight's savings time and the extra sunshine in the evening, but as far as bedtimes go, it isn't a mom's friend.

Anyhow, he's pulling out all the stops. And his new favorite is to put on the big puppy dog eyes and hold his hands out to me and say "Mommy stay with me. I NEED you....". Except words don't do justice to what a child can do with that kind of power. No matter how much you KNOW it is just to prolong bedtime, you still become immediately ridden with guilt. This is how the entire conversation went:

Mommy (enjoying a good relaxing book in the living room)
Brent (plotting in his bedroom)

Brent: MommmmeeeeEEEeeEEEEeeeeEEEEEeeee!!!!!!
Me:.............(ignoring)
Brent: Moooommmmmeeeeeeee. Mooommmmeeeeee. Mooomm------
Me, opening his bedroom door sharply: "What??? For the 10th time..WHAT??"
Brent: Mommy stay with me...stay in here with me. You lay down here.
Me: But you're a big boy now honey, it's time to go to sleep.
Brent: But I'm scared!
Me: What are you scared of baby?
Brent, looking around trying to come up with something: Ummmm.....I'm scared
Me: Of ... what?
Brent: Ummm....stay with me, Mommy. I need you!
Me: You do?
Brent: Uh huh...I need you mommy.
Me: Okay, I can lay down with you for a few minutes, but if I stay, we have to turn off the movie and go to sleep.
Brent, sharply: GO, mommy!
Me: You sure? If you're scared, I can stay!
Brent: NO....you GO. Night mommy.

And that was the end of that. I guess he doesn't need me as much as he needs Spongebob Squarepants.

His favorite movie right now...

Bob the Builder

ABCs

Fun with Playdough