Cowboy Carrot

Carter was helping Papa feed the horse tonight, so he had a carrot in one hand and was wearing the hat that Jim gave him before they moved. He was walking down the driveway and removed the hat from his head and put it on the carrot. Then he said "Look, Papa! Cowboy Carrot!" Here he is feeding Tao his carrot. Don't worry, all his fingers are accounted for and working!

Are You Spookie Mama?

As you can see, I have been a little busy and haven't been as frequent with my posts. This happened about a month or two ago at the table in the kitchen. We were eating and all of a sudden Carter asks me " Mama, Are you spookie?" I had to answer yes. I don't know when Carter heard this, but he must have heard one of us talking about my other nickname: Spookie Pookie.

"I Tell You A Secret"

Just last night I was reading a story to our little one at bedtime and in the middle of the story he sidles up real close to me and puts his mouth up to my ear and whispers, "I love you too." Then he sits back and looks up at me and whispers "I tell you a secret Mama." I leaned forward and said "I have a secret for you too!" Then I whispered in his ear "I love you forever!" A minute or two after I start reading again he whispers in my ear "I love you forever!"

To hear such words spoken in such a gentle way from a little one so new and not always so gentle is just an amazing thing. I shake and quiver sometimes as I realize how his understanding of loving relationships are expanding - he is only a little more than two years old!

Keep Reaching for the Moon Little One . . .

This particular thing happened on Saint Patrick's Day, 2008. We were on our way home from work and were on the backside of the hill about 5 minutes from home when I heard our little guy exclaim that he saw the moon. I couldn't really see it and had to look for it for a second before I found it. Then I heard him say from the back seat "Mommy! Can I touch it, Mommy? Can I, Mommy?" I was so surprised to hear an aspiration such as this come from one so small that it took me a few seconds to reply. I didn't want to dash his hopes by saying you can't touch that and ridicule him for such a wondrous remark. I instead chose to say "You keep reaching for the moon little one and I will always be there to help you!" I think I started to tear up just thinking of all the grand dreams that will be coming for this little one of mine!

A Day With The Guys . . .

Last week I left the little one at home with Papa and Uncle Paul. They were going to fix the tractor and do some work around the "farm" that really needed doing. Papa said that he needed a little helper so I went off to work without my little guy.

Now when I got home I guess I expected to see a little bundle of dirt come my way, but he also had a story to tell that went something like this:

Papa said he was working in the field and had to go to the bathroom, but didn't want to walk all the way up to the house . . . well, you know who saw what he was doing and said "Papa I want to do it too". Papa was all too ready to show him "just how it was done!" Papa said that he took down his pants and diaper and told him to aim for the tree. He then looked like he was pushing really hard with grunts and everything, but nothing came out. Then he said "This is really hard!"
When I came home he told me that he and Papa had "peed on the leaves! You should have seen the proud look on Papa's face!