This one's too little for Daddy...

Last night I was out to dinner with some colleagues so missed reading to Jack and putting him to bed. My husband had to take over these responsibilities that I tend to cherish and am not great at sharing. 

This morning, when Jack bellowed, "Mommy, I'm awake. Can you come in here?" I had my feet on the floor before he could finish summonsing me. After collecting and extra hug and kiss from him, he pointed to his big, red chair and asked me if we could read some books. How can you say no, right? So we started by reading the Baby Pumpkin book (yes, I know we're well past Halloween, but it's a book, right?), then went on to the tractor book, and last, he pointed to a Tigger book and said, "can we read the Tigger book? The Tigger book is too little for Daddy, but you're little like me, so can we read it?" Chris had told Jack that the print was too small for him to read. Jack interpreted that as meaning the book was too small for a man as big and tall and strong as his Daddy (OK, so maybe I'm embellishing a big, sue me). We read the Tigger book. Twice. And inside I found a certain peace with the fact that Jack identifies that there are things that Daddy can't do, but Mommy can, and there are things that Mommy can't do that Daddy can. Together I think we'll all get this whole family thing.

Chickenpants, chickenpants, chickenpants, hold my hand...

Two nights ago my husband had to put a band aid on his finger. After putting the band aid on he said, "you know, the reason I don't want to wear this has nothing to do with the fact that it's a Toy Story band aid, but it's because I know that the first question I'm going to get tomorrow morning is 'Wha happened, Daddy? Why you wearin' a bundaid?'" Well, sure enough he was dead-on. The morning started with the ever so familiar, "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! I'm awake! Please come get me, we go downstairs!" Halfway down the stairs the interrogation started. "Daddy, wha happened? Why you wearin' a bundaid?" The things that he notices and gets hung up on are just so funny.

Cut to this morning. Jack had gotten up about an hour earlier with my husband. I came downstairs wearing a new pair of pajama pants that happen to have chickens on them. "Hi Momm- what aaye you wearin'? Why you have chickens on you?" For the next 30 minutes we talked about why chickens are on my pants, whether they were real chickens or not, what color the chickens were, whether or not the dogs on the pants were eggs or not, etc., etc., etc.," Who knew that chickenpants could be such a rich topic of conversation.

My Listening Ears

An exciting day in any child's life - the day he or she receives his or her first ears. Yes, we're talking about the ubiquitous black Mickey Mouse ears with the child's name emblazoned on the back in barely legible gold script (note: said script has been updated since I was a child and there are now legible scripts available). There we were - on Main Street, USA in Magic Kingdom, with Jack getting his first ears - exciting times. 

It's important to point out that Jack is a typical 2 year old little boy. Sometimes he listens, but most of the time, well, he doesn't. At school, and at home, we often remind him to put his "listening ears" on when it's not so obvious that he's listening. We put our hands in our pockets and say "ok, time to put your listening ears on," take our hands out of our pockets, and make a clicking noise motioning someone attaching ears to his or her head. Well, Jack wasn't so psyched about putting his Mickey ears on, but reluctantly did so. Upon seeing his own shadow he said, very excitedly, "Mommy, look! I think these are my listening ears!" If only we'd known that we would have brought him to Disney World so much sooner!

The wheels on the bus go round and round..

It's no great secret that I love singing. And dancing. And making up my own words to the melodies of popular songs. Well, the metaphorical apple does not fall far from the metaphorical tree. Earlier today, on our way to the airport, Jack started singing the ever-popular "Wheels on the Bus" song. Most people know the lyrics, but to remind you...

The wheels on the bus go round and round
Round and round
Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town...

The driver on the bus says "move on back"
Move on back
Move on back
The driver on the bus says "move on back"
All through the town...

There's a verse about the babies on the bus crying, and the next verse is about the Mommies on the bus.

The Mommies on the bus say "I love you"
I love you
I love you
The Mommies on the bus say "I love you"
All through the town...

Well, not in the Smith household, not according to Jack. Jack's version goes something like this:

The Mommy on the bus says "I'm late for work"
I'm late for work
I'm late for work
The Mommy on the bus says "I'm late for work"
All through the town...

Thanks for being so creative kiddo, I guess it's time for Mommy to be a little less focused on how late for work she is...