Sam's Future As a Mommy

As I mentioned in a previous post, the boys and I often chat about my experience of having been pregnant with each of them, as well as the stories of their births and the first few days of their lives.  They've always known they were born via C-section, but today they were particularly concerned with the surgical procedure.  They had questions.

"Where is the hole the doctor cut?"
"How did it close?"
"Did it hurt?"
"How could it not hurt?"
"How could you be awake and not feel it hurting?"

I explained the spinal block; where the shot goes, how it works to numb the body but allow one to stay awake.  Then I explained stitches, or, in my case, staples.  Sammy became quite agitated at this point.  The blood drained from his face and he got teary-eyed.  I thought he was worried about me, so I reassured him that it did not hurt and that the staples are, in fact, gone.  It turns out he was scared for himself because, in his words

"I want to be a mommy when I grow up and I don't want anybody to staple my tummy".

Sam has been expressing his desire to be a mommy when he grows up for a good couple of years now.  Charlie (ever the logical realist) keeps trying to "school" Sam in the impossibility of this.  Sam (ever the wanderer and keeper of his very own reality) continues to make plans for future mommy-hood.

A Little Gift

The boys and I often chat about my experience of having been pregnant with each of them, as well as the stories of their births and the first few days of their lives.  We all really enjoy these talks and never tire of them.  Some of the stories are so familiar that the boys now participate in the storytelling, vividly recounting bits and pieces; sometimes as if they were actual memories.

Today we spent a lot of time recounting and remembering how Sammy spent most of his time in utero curled up in a tight ball (right near mommy's heart), barely moving (especially once we hit 30 weeks).  We always laugh about how Sammy still didn't seem to want to stretch out once he was born.  We had to sort of peel his arms and legs away from his body to change his diaper.  Sammy, our little Ball of Baby.

Today Jack said, "Remember Sam, you were like a little ball when you came out of mom?"

And Sam responded "It's like I was a little gift".

Indeed.

Jacks

J to a pirate be-decked Disney World cast member:  You know there are two Jacks.  Jack Sparrow and Jack Me!

Memories

I lost our small video camera somewhere en route to our Disney World vacation and was pretty upset about it.  The camera itself was inexpensive, and neither Don or I were too broken up with respect to its monetary value.  However, it had a two minute video of us waking the kids at 4:30 AM that was just so precious and special.  In addition, I had had big plans for taking lots of videos on vacation so I was pretty bummed about the loss of those would-be videos.  We managed to take some videos on our camera, but there was a mere 14 minutes worth of available video space (over 9 days) versus the hour that was available on the video camera.  I was sad and disappointed that we wouldn't be able to capture as much on video as I had anticipated.  While I was in the process of trying to accept the loss C had this to say:

It's okay mom.  The memories are what really matters.

At the end of our first day in Disney World -

J to Dad:  I know who's the Disneyest of all.

Dad: Who?

J: Mickey Mouse!

Light Saber Duel-ese

J: My death is your death!

C: Enough with the silly talk! Game on!

Balloons

S: I just love balloons so much I want to cry.

Adjustments

J (to C): No, don't break it! Don't break it!

C (to J): I'm not going ot break it. I'm just going to make some adjustments...

Dead is Dead

Talking with C today about embalming, cremation and mummification and the conversation turned to "life after death". We've discussed this many times and I took my usual stance (that our bodies are merely vessels for our spirits which I believe to be our true selves and essences...)

C: Mom, I've been thinking about this for a long time now and I'm pretty sure dead is dead.
Me: You really think so?
C: Yeah, I just don't see how a spirit can think.
Me: Maybe spirits don't think but still exist.

(silence)

Me: Maybe we can just agree to disagree.
C: Yep.

J: The volcano is interupting!

Goose What?

J: (pointing to his legs) What are these?
Me: Those are goose bumps. They show up on your skin when you're cold.

About one hour later J is curled up on the couch trying to get warm...

C: You must be cold, J.
J: Yeah, that's because I have duck rolls.

J Love

J was drawing a very elaborate "jellybean" picture (think lots and lots of colorful circles). Without asking if it was okay S added a jellybean. I don't know how the average kid handles uninvited contributions to their masterpieces. In our house neither S nor C would tolerate this from anyone. They would have a crying meltdown or yell in anger, respectively. (I love them both fiercely, no less.)

On the other hand, here's the kind of joyful surprise we get from J: When he saw what S was doing to his picture he said, word for word,

"Aw, that was really nice of you!"

Doesn't that make you warm and fuzzy all over?

Tutu

We had a playdate last weekend with my best friend and her 4 year-old daughter, "O". In the midst of a frenzied and joyful session of dress-up J noticed that O's pink ruffled skirt was poking out the back of her costume. Helpful as ever J told her "your ballerina is sticking out!".

Sweet, sweet J

J was getting geared up for a trip to the movies with Gramma and Poppa. One he realized I wasn't going along he said he'd miss me and after a long pause said

"You'll have to show me how to get there"

Later, while at the movie theater, a young man with a mowhawk made a sort of pre-movie announcement to the audience and J commented to Poppa

"That's a strange human being!"

He thoroughly enjoyed the movie and his time with Gramma and Poppa. He sat between them and since Poppa held the popcorn he ensured that Gramma did not run out. Such a kind, considerate, sweet little boy!

Camel

The name of the Principal at the boys' school is Mr. Campbell. J and S call him Mr. Camel which is interesting because they call camels canimals.

"I'm Gonna Tell Big Brother On You!"

S: J is putting that in his mouth!

(silence)
(no response)

S: C! J is putting that toy in his mouth!!!

(C looks up from the game he is playing to glance over at S who is pointing at J looking guilty)

C: That's okay. Sometimes I put that toy in my mouth too.

(Mom laughs at the entire exchange especially the older brother's sure response.)
(Mom's heart and is warm and fuzzy over the dynamic between younger and older brothers.)

Who is God?

S: God is a T Rex.

J: Who is god?

S: You know god! He's everywhere!

Hatching Pistachios

J and S love pistachios in the shell. They enjoy shelling them by themselves butoccasionally need help. The other day J handed a tough one over to me and said

"Will you hatch this one for me mom?"

So cute.

Where Exactly is God?

S to J:

"God is in the TV"

J to S:

"No, God is in we're (our) brain"

our kids love talking about "god" even though we don't go to church or subscribe to (or indoctrinate them in) particular religion(s). I think they are just naturally curious and spiritual!

How Do You Spell Book?

S: Blue, how do you spell book?

C: B-O-O-K

S: B-O-Y-K. No, that's not really straight.

J: Yes it is really straight!