Hodge Podge

One day I might start posting pictures again but I’ve taken very few in the last month and, to be honest, I can’t locate the camera. My only hope is that it wasn’t disposed of in the trash. That might sound a little bizarre but, lately, we are losing things at a much faster rate than ever before and I think it’s safe to say that instead of playing in the toilet, d3’s new hobby is finding things that are important to Mommy and Daddy and putting them in the trash. Now, the camera would have been hard to get away with so I am still hopeful that he just hid it from us but the remote to our ceiling fan is a bit smaller and has been missing a good two weeks now. I’m fairly certain it’s been smashed to smithereens at the landfill and the fan will now be but a mere piece of non-functional decor. Yes, I can buy a replacement but hello? Those things are not cheap but I am.

OK, so no pictures. We’ve established the rationale behind that. Let’s move on. I haven’t really given ‘updates’ to what we’re doing these days and, since we do have so much family and friends out of state, this is a good place to log it so that they can keep up with the comings and goings of the crazies.

d1 is nearing the end of first grade. Academically, he’s rocking it out. We couldn’t be more pleased. Behaviorally, he still struggles with talking – out of turn, at extreme decibel levels, etc. I don’t tell him this but I’ll tell you this – I had the √ rather than the + in those areas until, probably, middle school. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut to save my life. Oh, and he’s still the class tattler. That must be from his dad’s side. I mean, I was chatty-chatter but I wasn’t about to throw a friend under the bus. I had standards, after all. d1 finished basketball and has already jumped right into baseball {with dad as coach again}. Yay for baseball games with a restless, mobile toddler who, even with snacks, refuses to let me watch a full inning and only wants to be on the field. Yay.

On the way to school today, we had this conversation:

d1 – Walker’s mom has a Smart car.
Me – Oh. What’s a Smart car?
d1 – {irritated sigh} It’s a car that’s very smart, Mommy. {insert eye roll} DUH!

I can see that sarcastic discussions are in our future with this one. Oh, how I look forward to those. I only wish I knew where he learned that repugnant style of communicating….

d1 is also recovering from a bout of strep throat. Thankfully, we have been able to avoid the nasty flu and all the other funk that has been going around but it got one of our ‘men’ this week and he was out of school one day. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his sickness just a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have healthy children and know that we have much to be thankful for but when they’re sick, particularly d1, the household in general just runs so much smoother. His little lethargic body just doesn’t have the energy to torment his younger brothers or to argue incessantly over NOTHING. And getting him to sit still for longer stretches is so refreshing. Oh and such a sweet boy when he’s sick. It’s almost like he’s lost the ability to be hateful and selfish. He’ll say things like, ‘Mommy, you look so pretty today.’ So what if it’s followed by, ‘…..can you get me some juice?’ Kind words from his lips can be hard to come by. I’m not opposed to verbal manipulation.

d2 is finishing up his last year in preschool. I actually just ordered his preschool graduation t-shirt today. It’s hard to believe that little guy is heading to ‘big school’ very soon. Today he received a treat from his most-awesome teacher because he counted to 100 in class. According to my husband-teacher, this is a kindergarten standard so he’s already ahead of the game. I’m proud but not surprised. This one is going to be a studious little thing. He already asks some pretty deep questions {he can usually squeeze in 20-22 on average in the morning commute, maybe more if he had a shot of apple juice before leaving home} and it’s obvious he ponders the answer for a while. I am excited to see what K-5 brings for him. He’s done with basketball and starts soccer in a couple of weeks. Our first soccer player in the family…….

As I mentioned before, d3 stays busy wrecking the house. Besides eating ridiculously large, adult-sized portions at every meal, destruction is what he does best. Fortunately, I’ve reached the ‘I just don’t care’ juncture in my life where cleanliness is concerned. It’s taken seven years, three filthy children and one slovenly husband but, unless we’re having guests, I just let it be. I never thought I’d get to this point but I’m here and it feels surprisingly good. He loves when we read to him. As of late, his vocabulary now includes, 'Ah, man,' 'Amen,' and 'okay,' though we're still working on comprehension. When I tell him not to hit his brother with the spatula, he'll say okay but walk right over and do the very thing I told him not to do. We are coming up on his 2nd birthday next month. I’ll admit. Every now and then, I feel a small surge of sadness that my baby is growing up but then he’ll have an explosive diaper or toss his plate of tacos on the carpet and, just as quickly as it came, that surge is gone.