Not even three and he's ready for the workforce.

Last weekend I made these really cute schedules for Frankie and Adam.  I spent a good deal of time on them, cut them out, and put them on clipboards.  I gave Frankie one for her room, and I gave Adam one for his room.  I also made one for each of them that will be posted in a central location on the first floor.  I hadn't gotten around to hanging up the first floor ones when I found this:

sitting on my desk.  Considering I don't remember making any little cut-in designs, I asked the older kids if they knew anything about it.  Of course, they didn't. 

So then I asked Thomas.  "Did you do this?"  I asked, holding up the schedule.  "Yes." he said.  Not quite sure if he quite knew what he was admitting to, I said "How did you do it?" "Scissors." he said matter-of-factly. Knowing he knows his colors, I asked, "What color scissors?" "Owange," he said (yeah, not so much).

I considered that answer inconclusive.  Wanting to see what else he'd "admit" to, I held up a piece of paper that Frankie had written dog training instructions on.  "Did you do this?" I asked.  "Ye--eesssh," he said delightedly.  "How?" I asked.  "Pe-skewel."

"Okay," I said.  I held up a typed invoice from my doctor's office.  "And did you do this?" I asked.  "Yeaahh," he responded.  "And how did you do that?" I asked.  "Because I'm type wedy fast."

Okay Thomas. Forget pre-school.  Time to hit the classifieds and earn your keep 'round here.  Anybody need a typist?

Silly Old Bear

 
Thomas hit a milestone this week.  He got to go to the theater and see his very first big-screen movie.  Our friend, Kami, took him to see the new Winnie the Pooh.

Now, for those of you who know our Thomas, you know that he's not exactly a sit still for an hour-and-a-half kind of kid.  He's not really a sit still for five minutes kind of kid.  But I hoped that the animation and simple storyline of Pooh would combine to help his restless little legs be still.

Before Kami picked him up, I had a talk with him.  "Thomas," I said, "You are going to a movie.  We don't jump or run in movies.  We sit in our seats."  "Okay mommy," he said.  "Thomas, do we run in a movie?"  "Nooo."  "Thomas, do we jump in a movie?"  "No."  "Do we sit still in a movie?"  (emphatic) "Yes!!!"

Just to be safe, I had that conversation with him once more before he left.  And then Kami had that conversation with him twice in the ten minute drive over there.  I told her to call me if there were any problems and she needed me to come get him.

The movie ended and my phone had not rung.  I called Kami (wondering if she had just dealt with my little monkey's rowdiness without calling).  "So," I said, "How'd he do?"  "Oh," said Kami, "Remember how you were worried about him sitting still?"  "Yes." (Somewhat nervously) "Well," she continued, "You do not have to worry about him sitting still in a movie."  "I don't?" "No," she said.  You don't."  "Okay." I said, somewhat surprised and relieved. "What you do have to worry about is how much he gets into the movie.  The whole time it was playing he was shouting loudly at the characters.  Every time anything went wrong, he would shout "Nooooooo!!!" at the top of his lungs.

Remember how he wanted to go to college with Steve, Joe, and Blue? I'm thinking there will soon come a time when a pre-movie conversation will involve somehow teaching Thomas that life and media are not actually one and the same.

But perhaps, I can let him stay engrossed just a little bit longer.  He may look like a five year-old, but he only gets to be almost three for a very little while.

"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit.  "No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."

Back to life. Back to reality...and the dawn of a new "ism"

It's too soon!!!!

I'm not ready for school to start for Adam, but, he'll be heading back in just two weeks.  I'm not a big fan of this whole year-round thing for elementary students and traditional schedule for junior high and high school students.  It leaves us with too many schedules to manage.  Preschool for Thomas, 4th grade for Adam, 12th grade for Frankie and they're all on different schedules.

I want to squeeze every last drop out of what's left of our summer.  Our summer started late and I'm mourning the early end of it.  The skies may be sunny but mamma's feeling a little blue.

At least I have Thomas to lighten things up --

Conversation with Thomas this morning:

I just explained to my friend, Nicole, that Thomas pronounces his name as "Nomas."  I thought it was adorable and endearing.  He would say things like, "Me Nomas.  This my Nomas choo-choo." I called him over to us so I could show off his cuteness.

Me:  "Tell Cole the name of your choo-choo?" 
Thomas:  "My choo-choo name Thomas."
Me: (astounded) "And tell Cole your name."
Thomas:  "My name Thomas wike my choo-choo."
Kids - they'll always prove you wrong at the least opportune moment.

Conversation with Thomas this afternoon:

Thomas:  "Daddy, what are you making dinner?"
Michael:  "I'm making chopped salad."
Thomas:  (with all the hope a little boy can muster) "Chocolate salad?"
If only Thomas, if only.

Conversation with Thomas this evening:

Me:  "Thomas, are you excited to start preschool?"
Thomas:  "Yes.  And I want go college."
Me: "Oh, you want to go to college?"  (what on earth -- where did this idea come from? Not that I don't want him too.  It's just a tad premature.) "Hmm.  And what will you do in college?"
Thomas: "Wif Steve, and Joe, and Blue."
Me:  "Ohhh, okay.  Of course."
Thomas:  "Yeah."
Note:  If you have no idea what I'm referring to, click here

The torch passes forward as we usher in a year of new schools, new experiences, new language skills and the dawn of... Thomasisms.

Potty Mouths

We have begun prepping Thomas for potty training.  We tried once before, but, it didn't take.  This time around he's showing a little more interest.

He likes the books we borrowed from the library on going potty - they receive his rapt attention.  He LOVES the potty training cartoon movie we borrowed from the library.  (The rest of us are a little bit tired of it, having watched it six or seven times in a row over the last two days).  He's sort of okay with sitting on the potty, but he's not really interested in staying there so much as he likes putting toilet paper in it and flushing. He doesn't really seem motivated by keeping the print (that disappears when wet) on his Pull-Up.

We're planning a potty party for him next Monday morning (for more info see: Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day).  I spoke with the author of this book and while it doesn't really mean that your child will be fully potty trained in a day, it's a great jump start.

And it's been very entertaining to enter this world again.  For Adam, it's been a little too entertaining.

Adam's friend Isaac came over to play on Tuesday.  They had fun playing Legos, swinging on the swing set, jumping on the trampoline (even though I told them to wait at least 15 minutes after eating and they only waited about fifteen seconds).  They were about to go outside again when Adam stopped Isaac.  "Wait," he said, "I have something to tell you.  Well, see, my little brother is two and he's learning how to use the potty.  And he has this potty training movie and it has a train in it.  And you know what it says? (He's so excited he's jumbling all his words together because this is SOOOOOO funny to him).  Well, you know how trains always go Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga Choo Choo?"  "Yeah," says Isaac, seeming confused.  "Well, on this potty training movie, instead of saying Chuga Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, it says "Chugga Chugga Chugga POO POO."  Both boys break into hysterical laughter.  They are beside themselves.  It is the funniest thing they have ever heard.

Guess who else thought it was funny?

Thomas.

So now he runs around screaming "Chugga Poo Poo... Chugga Poo Poo" and then laughing like a loon.

Sigh.

Potty training 101.  I hope Max catches on quickly when it's his turn.

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes, Sonic Hooten

My baby boy turned nine yesterday.  You know how people say things like, "Oh, I can't believe little so-and-so is already X years old"?  Yeah, I don't say things like that.

I have no problem believing that it's been nine years since my son was born because it's been a looong nine years.  But not because of him.  He's a bright spot for me every day.  I am eternally grateful that he's my son and that I get to be his mom.

Adam constantly amazes me.  He's bright, funny, articulate, dramatic, and goofy.  And even though he's a pretty handsome kid, it's almost impossible to get a good picture of him because he does his over-the-top cheesola smile and most of them end up looking like this:

He's completely obsessed with video games, so much so (as evidenced in his interview below) that we have to stop him from playing too much lest he turn into Mario, or Luigi, or Sonic.

To celebrate his birthday, we took him and a few of his friends to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  They were cute.  They laughed uproariously through most of the movie, and didn't cry at the sad parts.  My friend Jill and I did though.  I sure felt like a boob crying in an animated movie about a stupid noodle-loving awkward fighting panda.

And the conversation that followed the movie (from the back of my car) was entertaining on so many levels.  I never knew that eight year-old/nine year-old boys could be so very entertaining.  I don't even remember most of what was said but I do know that it was some sort of contest to see who could tell the worst story about his younger siblings.  I know somewhere in there was a comment about one boy's five year-old sister having three boyfriends. (Yeah, her mom was surprised to hear that too).

The friend party took place the Saturday before his birthday.  On his actual birthday, we held a family party.   We served Adam's favorite foods - Shrimp Cocktail (thanks Nicole for the gift of birthday shrimp), Stuffed Artichokes "the way mom makes them", and garlic pasta.  We had a Sonic the Hedgehog birthday cake, opened presents (Legos were involved), and got overly full.

All in all it was a great birthday.

But cake aside, presents aside, shrimp and artichokes aside...wanna know what my favorite part of his birthday was? It was the part where he said (more than once), "Mom, thanks for making this such a great birthday.  I know you're spending a lot of time and a lot of money on my birthday and just thank you so much."  Thank you Adam so much.  When a nine year-old child remembers to express gratitude, I get to be  gratified in knowing that we are doing something right.

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe Adam James Hooten.  We love you with all our hearts and can't wait to celebrate many, many more with you.

An interview borrowed from a fellow blogger:

.::Favorites on His 9th Birthday::.

What's your favorite color? Aquamarine
Who's your best friend? Cole Barton
What's your favorite food? Stuffed Artichokes
Where is your favorite place? Monkey Island (Bouncing place)
What is your favorite holiday? My birthday
What is your favorite thing to do? Play video games
What is your favorite song? Largo by Ludwig Von Beethoven (bear in mind he recently learned to play this on the piano).


.::His future according to his 9 year old self::.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A video game designer

If you could be anything, what would you be? A video game designer or a video game champion
How old do you want to be when you get married? I don't know.  Around my 20s.
Do you want to be a dad? Yeah
What kind of dad do you think you will be? A good one who will be nice to my children.
If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Sonic
What makes you most happy? Spending time with my grandpa. I like watching soccer with him.  (I told this to my dad.  He said that Adam was going to make a great politician some day.)

Happiness is...

Do you remember the song "Happiness" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown?

Out of nowhere this song popped into my head the other day.  It's such a great song that I immediately started teaching/singing it to Adam.

I got as far as "happiness is two kinds of ice cream" before Adam interrupted me.

"Mom," he said, "Thomas and I are two kinds of ice cream.  I'm, you know, like, pink strawberry ice cream that's careful.  And he's chocolate that's messy and runs alllll over the place."

I laughed, and had to agree.

Special - today only: Two, two, two Adamisms for the price of one!

We just got home from watching Rio, and may I say that was a great movie.  Incredibly beautiful animation, funny, moved quickly.

In case you haven't seen it, it the storyline centers around two blue macaws named Jewel and Blue.  Jewel is a no-nonsense, take charge kind of bird.  Adam observed the following:

"Mom, Jewel doesn't take anyone being mean.  She'd beat the tuna fish outta them.  I didn't wanna say a bad word so I said tuna fish instead of, like, crap."


------

We had just stopped at  a Latin market to pick up some platinos maduros for Sunday dinner.  I was speaking to the cashier in (limited) Spanish.  Walking out the door I thought to myself, "Maybe Adam can take Spanish in school and then he can teach me and we can speak together."  Let me stress that this was a thought,  not a verbalized idea.  Out of seemingly nowhere, we have the following conversation.

Adam:  Actions speak louder than words, right?
Me: That's true, Adam (wondering where this is going).
Adam: Yeah, so I think I should learn sign language.   



...Pienso que seré la única persona para hablar español en mi casa.