Caleb's Ladies

It all started when we attended the Trademarks Expo at Joe's work, the Patent & Trademark Office. There were all sort of trademarked characters in full costume walking around, including Popeye and Olive Oyl, the Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy, Berenstain Bears, Idaho Potato, Dennis the Menace, Geico Gecko, and more. The boys were fascinated with all of the characters, but one in particular caught Caleb's eye. "Mommy," said Caleb as he pointed to Betty Boop in her shimmery red dress, "I love that lady!"

A few weeks later we were at Mimi and Papa's house when one of those ridiculous comedies came on the TV. The movie had just started and we weren't paying close enough attention to discriminate whether it would be appropriate for little boys. Well, it wasn't long before the screen was displaying a young scantily-clad woman wantonly leaning out of an open window. Eyes wide with wonder, Caleb said, "I love that lady!"

Then, not long after Joshua and Caleb's 5th birthday party that they celebrated with their preschool friends and their families, Caleb told me, "Mommy, I love Konstantine's mom." I asked him if he loved some of his other friends' moms, and he was sure that he did not. Only Konstantine's mom.

We trust that as Caleb matures, he'll learn to take some other qualities into account, such as character and personality, when deciding whom he loves. Not that his aforementioned love interests lack good character or personality, but I'm pretty sure that was not the criteria Caleb used when he decided that he loved them!

Too Dry and Expensive

Here are a few snippets of conversations heard in our house over the past couple weeks:

Moses: "Can I have mama?"
Me: "Yes."
Moses (singing): "Bob the Builder, yes we can!"

* * *

While holding a copy of Dick and Jane...
Moses: "Want to read this book, Caleb?"
Caleb: "No, baby, this book is too dry. And it's too expensive. I'm sorry, baby."
Moses: "Oh."

* * *

While watching a Gospel Bill episode in which Oogene is painting a picture of his house...
Moses: "Is Oogene drawing?"
Me: "No, Oogene is painting."
Moses: "Oogene painting a house?"
Me: "Yes, you're right, he is painting a house!"

* * *

Joshua: "Mommy, remember when I was a little baby and I drank mama?"
Me: "Yeah, you were such a cute little baby."
Joshua: "Mommy, can I be a little baby again?"
Me: "No, I'm sorry, sweet Joshua, you can't ever be a little baby again."
Caleb: "Joshua, maybe you can be a little baby again tomorrow."
Me: "No, you can never be a little baby again. You are just going to keep growing older."
Caleb: "But I don't want to be old!"
Me: "Why not?
Caleb: "Because I don't want to have whiskers!"

* * *

And now a small supplemental sampling of the eloquence of a certain 21-month-old. These are just a few Moses-isms I happened to transcribe today while sitting at our (new, virus-free!) laptop:

"I need a tissue."
"Percy begins with 'P'."
"I made a car."
"What're you eating? You eating coffee? Can I have some coffee?"

21-Month-Old Chatterbox

Our chatterbox is 21 months old! Here are a few things we've heard him say in the past month. There are many others that I've forgotten, but I remembered to write these down.

"Look Mommy, I'm a squirrel. I'm a cat, too. I'm a dog, too." He said this while
crawling on hands and knees back and forth across the bathtub.

"Mommy, remember I was sad?" These were the first words out of Moses' mouth the
morning after he'd cried himself to sleep. I can count on one hand the number of times I've let Moses cry himself to sleep, so I felt so bad that he remembered!

"I want to say hi to the Cat in the Hat". Moses' reply when I asked him what he was thinking about after what appeared to be a moment of deep contemplation.

"Because I need to!" An all-encompassing argument which he unfortunately picked up from Caleb. He also says "SO-rry" with a hint of attitude that he's also picked up from Caleb.

"I eat it." We later discovered a few small clear beads alongside a torn, moist packet labeled "Silica Gel. THROW AWAY. DO NOT EAT."

"What's that noise?" When Moses hears something, such as an airplane in the distance.

When I picked Moses up from the one-year-olds' class at Bible Study this past week, he was standing at the table all by himself, flipping through the pages of Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and saying "hippot-mus, zebra, f'mingo" and all the other animals. What a contrast to the other one-year-olds who were toddling around in silence with blank stares on their drool-soaked faces. Now, if I'd never been in the shoes of the parents those other toddlers, I would probably be giving myself a generous pat on the back right now for being such a superior parent. Thankfully, I have the twins to keep me humble!

I Don't Want Mommy to be Scared

One evening a few months ago, Joe suggested that he take the boys to the grocery store after dinner. As usual, the boys cheered and scurried to put on their shoes. After all, going to the grocery store with Daddy was a huge treat, since it meant riding in Daddy's car and often resulted in the purchase of organic chocolate milk. Joe was in the habit of just taking the twins and leaving Moses at home with me, but on this particular evening Moses made it clear that he wanted to be included as "one of the guys". The boys had excitedly congregated by the front door when Joshua realized that if all three brothers accompanied Daddy to the store, that would leave Mommy at home alone.

At first Joshua tried to persuade me to come along to the store, but for whatever reason I needed to stay at home. Then he tried to persuade Moses to stay at home with me as usual, but that wasn't going to fly, either. And Caleb of course was not willing to budge. Joshua was on the verge of tears when he pleaded, "But I don't want Mommy to be scared! I don't want Mommy to be alone!"

I tried to assure Joshua that I wouldn't be scared or sad, and that they'd only be gone for half an hour at most, but he wouldn't stand for it. Holding back tears, Joshua slipped off his shoes and retreated to my side, telling his brothers and Daddy to go on without him, that he would "stay at home with Mommy so she won't be scared". At that point, I was the one holding back tears as I realized what a tender heart my four-year-old son had, that he was willing to sacrifice one of his favorite activities--going to the grocery store with Daddy in Daddy's car--to ensure that his Mommy wouldn't be scared and alone.

So Joe, Caleb, and Moses went to the store while a somber Joshua kept me company at home. When they returned from the store, Joe took Joshua for a ride around the block all by himself in Daddy's car. Even though this happened a few months ago, I haven't forgotten it, and every now and then Joshua will remind me of it, too. He'll say, "Remember, Mommy, when I didn't want you to be scared?" and he'll smile and give me a hug. I'm telling you, they don't make boys any sweeter than my Joshua.

Happy Half-Decade, Caleb and Joshua!

The boys accidentally downloaded a virus onto my laptop a few weeks ago, rendering it useless. That's why things have been quiet here lately. While my iPhone has kept me somewhat connected, typing out lengthy blog posts is not something I'm eager to attempt on a handheld device. Hopefully we'll get the laptop fixed soon.

Yesterday was Joshua and Caleb's 5th birthday! They had a fun-filled day which included a field trip to a local nature center, singing cards from Granny and Babo (which provided a good solid hour of entertainment), and concluded with a "really cool party" (according to Caleb) at Mimi and Papa's house, complete with steak, angel food cake, and the biggest hit of all--Pillow Pets from Uncle Chris. Apparently Pillow Pets are not only wildly popular with the preschool demographic, but also with the boys' preschool teacher's 12-year-old daughter and her friends, and one of their other teacher's 16-year-old daughter and her friends. And of course Moses was so distraught about not having a Pillow Pet of his own that Mimi and Papa went out and got him one of his own this evening. At $20 a pop, we regret not having invented Pillow Pets first!

While we may have missed out on some material investment opportunities in the world of stuffed animals/bedding, we have been busily investing in the lives of our sweet boys. While parenting twin babies is probably the craziest and most exhausting thing we've ever done and ever will do, it has totally been worth it and our hearts have been full as we've watched our babies grow up to be little men. What a blessing to have such pure and sweet 5-year-old boys who happily exclaim, "Praise the Lord!" when they're happy and are quick to pray, "Be healed in Jesus' name!" while laying hands on a hurt family member. We are so thankful for the blessing of the past 5 years, and for the many more to come.