Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Snowman Wus Shivrring

I have quite a backlog of quotes from the past month:

"Samson ate lots of healthy food and became really strong". -Joshua

"No thank you Caleb, I don't wanna get fat". -Moses, politely declining a snack.

"No, Owen, Santa Claus is just a character. He's not real". -Moses, correcting his big brothers' friend's claim that Santa would come down his chimney. I quickly intervened and assured Owen that Moses was mistaken.

"Look, I drew a bat and a ice cream cone for my parents. Look, Mom, your son drew this for you." -Moses, showing me his artwork.

"Oh, praise God, Joshua! You drew a very nice snowman. That's a very good job!" -Caleb

"Ding ding ding! I made my snowman". -Joshua

"This place is very impressive!" -Joshua, upon arriving at the Christmas Tree farm.

"I had a bad dream about a peanut butter pizza that turned into an animal and started chasing me." -Joshua, in a state of consternation just after waking up.

"Is this soup?" - Joshua, referring to his Thanksgiving school lunch of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy.

"I want a baby sister. I have too many brothers." -Moses, wishfully thinking.

"And a very, very, very metal tree." -Caleb and Joshua's interpretation of "And a partridge in a pear tree."

"See the green Christmas trees, growing up the pine. See the green Christmas trees, this one will be mine." -Joshua's seasonally appropriate version of a song they learned in school: "See the yellow pumpkins, growing on the vine. See the yellow pumpkins, this one will be mine."

Of course, this is just a tiny sampling of the billions of things the boys say each day. Moses talks so much when it's just me and him at home during the day that I sometimes want to just tell him to be quiet! Since the twins had language delays and were relatively reticent 2-year-olds, I am not accustomed to all of this talking, and it honestly wears on my introverted self. I've even resorted to begging him to watch movies just so that I can hear myself think.

Upon noticing a dearth of quotes from Caleb in my collection, I initially felt kind of bad for not recording more things he's said. but I actually think it's a reflection of the fact that he generally spends less time gabbing away than his brothers do. Caleb is probably the most introverted one of the bunch, and spends much more time drawing than the other two do. He continues to mass-produce drawings on a daily basis, his current obsessions being gingerbread men being chased by foxes, as well as snowmen assuming different occupational roles, such as a cowboy snowman or a policeman snowman.

Moses has followed Caleb's lead and has actually shown himself to be a pretty decent artist. He has drawn things like faces, horses, and skull-and-crossbones that are surprisingly recognizable, considering they were created by a two-year-old. Moses is also eager to emulate his big brothers' writing skills and has even written the word "MIMI" although I don't think he knew what he was writing. His favorite letters to write are "H", "I", "M", "O" and "E". He doesn't seem interested in writing his name, but I guess I can't blame him since those "S"s are pretty daunting. He also insists that his name is spelled "M-O-E-S". Moses has a stubborn streak and trying to convince him that he's wrong is usually a futile effort.

Unfortunately, Moses also seems to think it's his job to correct his friends and tell them they're doing everything the wrong way. After living in the shadows of two older brothers for his entire life, I guess he's realized that preschool is his long-awaited opportunity to be the boss, even though he's actually one of the youngest kids in his class. Even though I have been horrified to witness this behavior on more than one occasion at school and at play dates, the other children thankfully don't seem to mind Moses' bossy nature, and he is never at a loss for friends who want to play with him.

Unlike his bossy little brother, Joshua is most focused on discussing the virtues of kindness and striving to be a "model student." We've been amused to witness the inclusion of phrases such as "that was so kind of you" and "I am very impressed" into his everyday speech. And Joshua not only talks the talk, but he also (usually) walks the walk. It is no wonder that his classmate Hanna told him today that she is going to marry him! Joshua is also becoming a more confident reader and writer. The other day when I was volunteering in his classroom, he wrote the following narrative: "The snowman wus shivrring. He wus so so cod." Translation: "The snowman was shivering. He was so, so cold." It's cute to see that Joshua writes the same way he talks. I was also pleased to see that he finished his assignment early and had plenty of time for free play afterwards. During the first couple months of school, when the children's task had been to write a letter of the alphabet several dozen times and then color, cut, and glue a worksheet pertaining to that letter, Joshua would drag it out and barely finish the assignment in time to head to lunch. Clearly, he is much more motivated to do creative work, and understandably so.

The boys are very excited about the impending arrival of Christmas in a few days. Ever since we put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, Joshua has regularly proclaimed, "this will be the best Christmas ever!" Even though we've reminded the boys over and over again that Santa Claus is just a character, they still seem to partially believe that he really will come down our chimney and bring them presents. This doesn't bother me, it's actually kind of endearing, and at least they'll never be able to claim that we lied to them. Trying to keep Christ in Christmas has been more of a challenge this year than in years past, since the twins' public school Kindergarten curriculum would lead one to believe that gingerbread houses and gingerbread men are the centerpiece of what should be a celebration of our Savior's birth. I suppose it could be worse; at least the boys have come home with Christmas tree crafts and a lesson about the Dutch tradition of leaving shoes out for Saint Nicholas to fill. And this past weekend, all three boys bravely stood in front of the congregation and sang about Baby Jesus in our church's newly-formed children's choir: "What did the donkey at the manger say, to Baby Jesus in the hay? Hee haw, hee haw, Baby Jesus we love you."