bad salami dream

Last night B woke up scared and said he had a bad dream. So I climbed into bed (no small feat trying not to dislocate anything while crawling into the bottom bunk of a not so tall bunk bed...mind you at 12:30 a.m....after being awoken from REM sleep...but I digress) and snuggled him back to sleep.

Earlier this evening, on our way to church, B started talking about his scary dream. I asked him if he remembered why it was so scary. He said, "Well it was the salami's that my friends and I were fighting." I'm racking my brain about how in fact a large salami could be frightening in a young boy's dream. We had just read the "Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle that night and I do recall that the said caterpillar had ingested a rather large salami. But why are B and his friends fighting these large salami's and what makes them so frightening?So I comment, "These were big salami's that look sort of like a hot dog, right?" "No, mommy, like the green guys on the show where they walk like this," and he sticks his arms out in front of him,"the guys we see on that old show 'Scooby Doo'"....Ohhhhhh, he's talking about ZOMBIES....zombies...salami's....well one can definitely feel like a zombie at night after eating a salami. Beware of zombies posing as salami's in your dreams...if so...throw back a few Maalox before bedtime...sweet dreams.

growing up

Lots of growing pains lately...for mommy. Watching my boys continue to develop their distinctive personalities, likes and dislikes, passions. (or should I say passionate likes and dislikes!)

The beginning of another year of school has brought even more changes. Both boys headed full on into school each embracing it according to his personality. J was initially excited; everything was new and interesting, however his excitement quickly subsided as he realized that in first grade the amount of "playing" during school has sharply declined. He's doing well grasping concepts, understanding the work and his reading continues to expand. Things have changed...he doesn't seem to be so impressed by his "new found knowledge"...seems to him new learning experiences come with new responsibilities for one's behavior and work. Don't get me wrong..the teacher reassured A and I thins morning that J is a good kid...he's just..."a boy"...this seems to interpret (in J's case) to a bit distracted, a little restless and somewhat impatient about ANYTHING taking too long!

Tonight J and I played our favorite bedtime game of writing a sentence for the other and then having that person draw a picture to go with the sentence. He really loves that game and I love to watch him use all his creative energy to come up with clever sentences for me to draw and then to illustrate the crazy sentences I hand down to him (i.e. tonight's was "The alien threw toast at his enemies!") As we snuggled to close out the night he showed me his new loose teeth...the two top front and center. It struck me like a knife to the heart...there goes my baby...when those two teeth are gone and his new ones come in..his face will begin to change...it will be just the beginning of his journey into manhood. The dance of our relationship will begin to change once more..and more frequently I will lose the grasp of his hand if only for one moment...but that brief moment will feel like an eternity.

spies

Once again I had to chuckle as I watched and listened to my boys play this evening. Currently their favorite thing to play is "spy". They will dress themselves up and announce that when they walk into the room I am to pretend that I do not know them. This evening these were the get-ups:

Now the other day J decided that he really needed to invent something. We've watched a couple of PBS programs on inventing ("Everyday Edisons") and Ruff Ruffman had a segment on spying and gadgets accompanying such activity. So he came to me with his hand-me-down MP3 player and his sunglasses and informed me that he was going to make a spy gadget. "Where is the tape?" I told him and went about getting ready for church. The next thing I know I turn around and there he is with this:

Later I asked A if he had helped J construct his spy camera. He said he didn't help at all...J had in fact put the whole thing together. I love it! I love to watch their minds at work, creating, analyzing and problem solving. I never knew I'd get such a kick out of watching this process happen in my children.

On a side note. This evening the spies were putting together their "hideaway" which was to be constructed with a bed sheet and various chairs..i.e. tent-fort. Well, it was not going smoothly. Said sheet would not stay put and slinked itself continuously off slippery chairs at the slightest touch. Iwas involved in my own project when I suddenly heard my 5 year exclaim in disgust (with very familiar inflection), "D**n it!" Well I immediately felt the pain of conviction deep within my being and said quietly, "B, I know that you have heard mommy use that word before, however, it is not a good word to use." Without missing a beat he said, "I'm sorry mommy, I thought it was a good word. I won't use it again."

What can I say...kids will always keep you humble.

1st day of school

(I wrote this post last week and didn't post it...why? I do not know..so here it is...belated..)

Here it is...another year of school upon us. As you can tell from the photos, the boys were pretty excited for the first day of school. B's photos are quite different from last year..in fact you actually see his face this time and he is smiling! It's amazing what one year of preschool will do for a child.
You also will notice that J is up to his same ol' silliness. No straight faces for him. The only way I can get a straight face is to sneak up on him and take him by suprise...this also means that I don't get a natural smile. Perhaps someday.

Following school they were all full of stories about their day. New friends were made, eating in the cafeteria for the first time for B and J is all excited about the fact that their first grade class has DESKS! no tables that have to be shared...like the other first grade class..shhhhh, we're not supposed to let on...appearantly Mr. S was able to negotiate some desks for his room...this is a very big deal. J even pointed out that there is a place to put your very OWN PENCIL on his desk and it won't roll away.

These are the small "wonders" that always put smile on my face. He was really, really excited about having a desk...oh and the fact that his take home folder is actually a BINDER...a real live binder with three rings and a zipper case so when I have to send $$$$$ it doesn't fall out!


B was equally excited about his shelf in music class. I asked him what he put on his shelf in music class but I couldn't exactly decifer what ended up being located on said music shelf. He did jumping jacks with Coach C and told me he was very, very good today! I think his excitement was getting lunch in the cafeteria...being able to select chocolate milk AND grape juice for lunch!

I must say that I thoroughly enjoy the first day of school as seen through my children's eyes. I'm excited for them to be able to go off for a brief moment into the world beyond our home. I'm thrilled to watch them interact with others, make friends, learn to respect other adults, become more independent. I'm enjoying every moment of their learning and growing!