An Interview with an Almost 4 Year Old

The above picture is a tell tale sign of cabin fever.  He dressed himself, he said he was ready for the beach.  I can definitely relate, I’m glad that it’s nearly the end of January!

These are his answers to the same questions Hosanna answered last week.

What is your name? Judah

How old are you?  3, I mean 2, I mean 3 (holding up his fingers)

When is your birthday?  February

What’s your address? He told me the house number and street name

Who is your mom? Becca

What does your mom do during the day?  Makes hot dogs, goes to the store and gets toys for kids, tickles bellies.

What does Dad do during the day?  He works in the garage with tools.

What is your favorite song?  Uh, Dad’s song (the kids hear songs that we like and call them Mom or Dad’s song)

What do you want to do when you grow up?  Be a bitar (guitar) singer with a bitar.*

Where do you want to live when you grow up?  Here.

What is your favorite food?  Salami and mustard.

What is your least favorite food?  Vegetables.

What is your favorite animal?  A horse to ride. 

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?  Chocolate.

What is your favorite book?  Bernard books (We have a couple of them - Nap and Bath.  The kids love them!)

What is your favorite toy?  Ken and Hercules (Ken the barbie doll and I’ll introduce you to Hercules another day).

How do you like to spend your time?  Playing with Ken.

*The other day I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up – he said “I wanna be grown up here, with you and dad.”

The View...

from the front window on this really-nice-play-outside-kind of afternoon:

 A five year old riding on a toddler bike  

while pulling a doll stroller that was holding a pumpkin.

 Here she is again waving when she realized I was taking her picture. 

Yes, she's wearing a dress, purple leopard print leggings and Nikes.

 Her brother is wearing shorts, snow boots and riding her bike

which he claims is his own.  

These three are quite the trio.

 Her younger sister, who has been in constant need of having her nose wiped 

all day long, and stubbornly insists that her name is "Me" not Zoe.

All the while, Shiloh stands inside longing for this time next year 

when she can join the ranks of her bike riding siblings.

Getting a word in edgewise

There are many times when Judah tries to get a word in around here and he just can't. He has honestly said to Hosanna before, "Stop talking!" in a very loud, impatient way - just because she goes on and on and he feels like he doesn't get a turn to speak. So when she isn't here, it gives me a chance to REALLY listen to him. He's pretty funny.

The other night Jeremy was sitting on the couch and Judah walks up to him and says, "Dad, can I have some money?" I was right in the other room and I just laughed out loud. I had a fast-forward-about-12-years moment and could just see him standing there as a teenager. It was hilarious. He was actually asking for some change to put in his pocket to play with.

The next evening Jeremy asked him if he wanted to play a game on the TV with him. We have an 'old-school' Nintendo machine. While he was hooking it up, Judah came into the kitchen and said, "Mom, Dad's gonna teach me how to play the 'deo game." It took me a minute to translate that meant video game. He was so excited and he said it about 5 more times.

He was playing yesterday and was counting down. It went like this, "Ready? 6....5....awesome!" That was such a 'boy' to say something like that.

All day long yesterday, we heard the partially thawing ice falling from the trees. At lunch, Judah asked me what that noise was. I told him it was the ice and trees outside. He said, "Oh, you mean in the forest?" It's funny to me how his little mind works, because I was talking about trees they are automatically part of the forest.

I was making some Cheerio Treats and he asked to help me. It was kind of a hard thing for him to help me with, he had a spoon that had some of the yumminess on it, which he licked off and asked for more. I said that he had to wait until I made all of the treats, so he asked me another 12 times for more. Of course, preschoolers can't wait a single second. I kept telling him to wait. Finally, he says, "My stomach is really hungry, can I have some more now?" As if his hunger would change my mind!

We are constantly putting lotion on Judah because his skin is pretty dry, so every time he sees some, he wants some. I had given him some and turned around to do something else. He gets in my face a minute later, smacks his cheeks and says, "Look Mom, I'm pretty!" with a huge grin. He definitely has an older sister!

I enjoyed my day with only one child that could speak in full sentences and I'm sure he enjoyed being able to be heard.

The sweet things they say...

Lately, the kids have said or done some things that have made me smile or even laugh out loud.

• The other night I took Hosanna and Judah to see some fireworks that were near our house. We had plenty of time, so I popped some popcorn to take with us. Hosanna would ask me before she took some out of the bowl that I was holding, "May I?" And then she would get some. Well Judah looks at me and says, "I may?" It took me a minute to understand what he was trying to say - may I backwards - but it was so cute because he said it like 15 more times. "I may?" All for a handful of popcorn.
• We were eating supper one night and Judah grabs a napkin and roughly wipes his face (like such a boy) and then he turns to Hosanna and asks her, "Do you need a napkin, Hosanna?" She said, "No thank you, Judah." That just really made me smile :)
• This morning when Hosanna got up at 6:45 am, she came and climbed into bed with me. She snuggled up against me and said, "I actually really love you." And giggled. That made me laugh out loud, it was so sweet.
• Little Zoe isn't saying much these days yet, but she is taking 5 or 6 steps at a time all around the house. She'll be walking soon!

We are enjoying these ages and stages. And look forward to the season of fall and the fun it brings!

Three things from today

First of all, what is sweeter than a chunky, smiling, brown-eyed, dimple-faced girl with wristless arms? Not much if you ask me! We met Jeremy at the mall for lunch today, Zoe was getting antsy in her seat. When Jeremy lifted her out of the seat, she smiled SUPER big and pretty much clapped her hands.

Judah has just recently learned how to say 'Love you.' Yesterday and today, pretty much out of nowhere, he told Jeremy a couple of times, "Love you daddy." Well, today he and Hosanna sat at the table to do some water color paints. He looked over at her and said, "Love you, Sanna." It was very sweet!

Okay, so I had one thing in mind to write for Hosanna and then I thought of another...so this is kind of a two-fer. 1) While we were at the mall, she was practically skipping around singing, "Ding dong, the witch is dead." That was pretty funny since I could understand what she was saying after the ding dong part. As for the other mall patrons, I'm not sure what they thought she was singing about. (She's been watching the Wizard of Oz.) 2) Tonight I fed her and Judah before Jeremy got home from work. I put their food in front of them and walked away from the table to do something else. She turns to him and says, "Okay Judah, let's pray." She bowed her head and said a prayer over their dinner.

These are three things I want to remember from today. For the most part, we are enjoying today's ages and stages...

Through the eyes of a child...

Last night, as I tucked Hosanna in bed, our conversation went like this:

Me: Stay in the bed, don't get up.

Her: Okay, I won't get up.

Me: I love you. Stay in bed. (I give her a kiss.)

Her: Thank you, Mama. (Hugging my neck.)

Me: Thank you for what?

Her: For you!

This sweet little conversation touched my heart and really made me think. At her age, there isn't much that I have to do to make her thankful for me. Just being her mama is a good enough!

You just never know...

This morning Judah did three things that surprised me (all before 10 am!)

I've never heard that before! - I was walking out of the room and he said, "Wait." It was very clear and it touched my little heart. Speaking of, when we got downstairs, he saw a picture of a heart and that's what he called it (he has cared nothing for shapes before this).

Fill in the blank - I was counting. Pretty fast I said, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5." And he looked at me and said, "Six."

I'm a big kid too - Hosanna was using the bathroom and had hollered for help with the toilet paper. Judah went up to help her reach it. After a few moments, it got a little quiet. I went to check things out...I opened the door and there's Judah sitting on the toilet, with no clothes or diaper on. He said, "Potty!" He didn't actually go, but there's nothing wrong with a little interest from the child! After that he proceeded to wear training pants - he calls them 'un-ies' - over his diaper for the rest of the day.

These are just a couple of things that I wanted to share with you about my alwyas growin' and ever-changing son. We are loving the ages and stages right now!