Mom Remembers

Scott blew his nose at church and then I saw him open the tissue and whisper to Soren about the contents.  I asked him: ME: Are you guys talking about boogers? SCOTT: Yeah. SOREN: Boogers are yummy!

Carl is (finally) walking.  Yes, he took his first steps about two months ago.  But since then, he has been very reluctant to improve on that skill.  I couldn't coax him into taking any solo steps at the Duede's house for Christmas and for most of this new year, he averaged about 2 or 3 steps a week. But two weeks ago, I figured out what motivated him: love.  He wouldn't walk for any number of yummy small treats and he wouldn't walk for excitement and praise but he would walk for hugs and kisses.  And in the last two weeks of practice, he has gone from a rare couple of steps to walking 80% of the time.  He has transformed from my little baby to my big toddler. He waited so long that this doesn't change much.  He could already get into anything he wanted to and it isn't like he was chomping at the bit so there's no eliminated frustration.  It's been a pretty seemless transition.  The only change is that I look up and see him walking to me, ...

A few days ago, I went to pick up the boys' friends Victoria and Leah for a playdate.  I was pulling Carl and Leah in our red wagon; Soren and Victoria were alternatively dawdling and running along the sidewalk.  When we got to the street, I told Soren and Victoria to hold hands and stick with me as we crossed.  On the other side, they kept holding hands and Victoria said "Let's walk fast!"  I watched them run clumsily ahead of me hand in hand and I laughed at the things they said to each other. SOREN:  Ham was the first monkey in space. VICTORIA:  My shoes light up.  Look at my shoes! SOREN:  (looking at her shoes)   I have dinosaur shoes. VICTORIA:  My shoes light up. SOREN:  I see a bird!  It flew away into the sky! VICTORIA:  Let's walk fast. SOREN:  Let's go home, hun.

SOREN: Can I have it? ME: No. SOREN: Can I have a green one? ME: No. SOREN: Can I have a purple one? ME: No. SOREN: Can I have a blue one? ME: No. SOREN: Can I have another one? ME: No. SOREN: Can I have a bigger one? ME: No. SOREN: Where is it?

A few of people have told me that they don't really know Carl very well, not like they know Soren.  I find this unsuprising since we have all had more time to get to know Soren.  Still, friends and family ask me to describe Carl's personality and help them take the shortcut to knowing him as well as they know his older brother.  At first, I could only describe Carl as much as I could contrast him to Soren.  Which is really only a way of saying what Carl is not , or at least what he is not like right now.  Comparing them both to the many other children out there in the world seemed more useful so I took a quiz that promised to define your toddler's personality.  It said that Soren was "spirited" (translate as "a handful")and Carl was "touchy" (or "a whiner"), two labels I didn't want to apply to either of my kids and that I don't feel are particularly accurate either.  I can think of situations when any number of contr...

SOREN:  I want some food when we get to Aunt Monique's. ME:  No, honey.  It is not Aunt Monique's job to feed you.  It's my job and you just had breakfast. SOREN:  When we go home, I want some food. CARL:  I want food!  I want food!  I want food! ME:  We are not having any food until lunch. CARL:  I want food!  I want food!  I want food! SOREN:  [to Carl] No!  Stop chanting!  We are not having any food.  [to me]   Mommy, I want food!

OK, so we're all in the car and we've been there for a while.  Carl wants out and this is what he says: CARL:  I want down! ME:  Sorry, honey; I can't let you down in the car.  You have to stay in your seat. CARL:  I want potty!  I want potty! ME:  I don't think you know what that means. CARL:  I want potty! SCOTT:  He thinks it means pull the car over quick and run me into a restaurant . CARL:  I want to peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ME:  Very funny.  That's not going to work. CARL:  All dry. SOREN:  Mommy, his underwear is dry!