Giving Thanks

Here it is! The most anticipated list of the season. So gather the family round the computer for some Turkey Day cheer!
My list of things I am thankful for re: The Mud Puddle

His smile
His big blue eyes
How he turns my head to kiss me on the cheek
Ellie and the fact that ‘new Ellie” will never be a substitute for the original
The way he takes a prat fall
That he calls the library in our house ‘book area’
The way he cuddles up to me on the couch
That he pushes the sleeves up when he puts on a long sleeve shirt
That he writes his own name with a backwards S
That he asks me to spell words for him
The way he plays teacher and talks to me like I am his student
When he wakes up in the morning he has Ellie under one arm and Nemo under the other
That he still lets me feed him
That he makes us say Grace and Excuse ourselves from the table
How he gives me lots of kisses to make Scott or my dad jealous (“Daddy, I am kissing your girlfriend!”, “Grampy, I am kissing your daughter!”)
That he will talk to me on the phone
The way he sings to himself when he is happy
What a great swimmer he is
The way he hugs his friends at daycare in the morning when he arrives and at night when he leaves
That he eats everything
The times he takes off his shirt part way and wears it on his head
His need for privacy (And his complete disregard for mine)
The way he wakes me up in the morning with a shove and a yell
That he calls to me when he has a bad dream (it is nice to be needed)
The way he takes off his shoes and tosses them up like Mr. Rogers (even though he has never seen Mr. Rogers)
That he loves ‘Curious George’ as much as the ‘big boy’ shows he watches
The challenging questions he asks me
That he is my favorite person in the whole world.

Two for the price of one

Since I was a little bit light on the blog last week and next week is the annual Thankful List I figured I would cover two topics this week.
First up:

Yesterday
The Mud Puddle is at that age where he understands the concept of time but not exactly details of it. Everything that happened in the past he labels as ‘yesterday’ and everything that is going to happen in the future is ‘tomorrow’. It is an easy rule to follow once you understand it but when you are unfamiliar it can seem a bit odd.

We were having a conversation with a friend of the family when the Mud Puddle burst out with “I went on a plane to South Carolina yesterday.” Oh really? As I recall your one trip to SC was over two years ago. The friend gave me a ‘what is he talking about look?” and I just shrugged my shoulders.

There are some things that I KNOW he knows are not ‘tomorrow’ but he stills has the urge to ask if they are. As I have mentioned previously "show and tell" is on Fridays but like the sun rising in the east, you can count on the Mud Puddle starting to ask about it on Monday: “When is Show and Tell?” “Friday” “And when is Friday?”
I have this conversation every day Monday through Thursday twice a day. Good times for me.
I don’t try and push too hard for him to get his timing right. I figure it will just upset him or confuse him and really at this point as long as he understands the past is the past and the future is the future who cares if he thinks Christmas was yesterday or Halloween is tomorrow – as long as he doesn’t want to wear a costume every day, I think we are in good shape.

And your bonus post:
Save the Drama for your Mama
The Mud Puddle has begun to experiment with the concept that being sick equals extra attention. He has started to tell me that his belly, head, neck, foot (you get the idea) hurts and he needs something for his pain. His great cure-all? Why chocolate of course! I am not sure where it is written in the New England Journal of Medicine that chocolate can cure a belly ache, but the Mud Puddle is ready to be the case study if they need a test subject.

The belly aching (as it were) usually starts after his dinner. The Mud Puddle is nothing if not a good eater. He is very good about eating all kinds of foods and never balks at having vegetables or other ‘healthy’ foods, and for that, I count myself lucky. Lately he has polished off his dinner in short order and then sat moaning about how bad his belly hurts. When I ask what will fix it (my usual suggestions include a lie down, some water, or the pink medicine) he will moan “chocolate”, writhing and holding his belly as he said it. You would think his appendix had just ruptured the way he goes on about it (and I am just paranoid enough that I check for fever and belly tenderness on the right side if the moaning goes on for five minutes – yeah, I am a total sucker).

His other recent malaise is a cough – sometimes genuine but for the most part a put on. He will hack and choke (only occasionally covering his mouth) and I will ask if he is okay and if there is anything that will help. Do you know what cures the sore throat of a crafty four year old? Chocolate. I don’t fall for that one EVER. I will give him some juice or water (at night he whines for medicine, which I will occasionally give him if the cough sounds genuine).
What is so amusing to me about all of this is that he is a pretty healthy kid. Aside from the standard baby ear infections and the round of daycare illnesses that everyone seems to get (it is funny to see the infectious disease notices go up at school – “Strep Throat two cases in the Toddler room” – the toddlers get most of the illnesses). We try to do right by him and keep him healthy – vitamins, healthy foods, plenty of rest, removal of tonsils, flu shots, etc. So for him to come up with the fake sicko routine is amusing to me.
I also have considered doing my own chocolate for belly ache routine to see how far that gets me.

Quick Update

I apologize for not posting sooner or a longer entry. Work for me has been crazy this week and I have not had the time to write up my blog thoughts this week. But enough about me!

We have a new addition to the Mud Puddle Lexicon this week:

Castle Roll – Crescent Roll to you and me

Some upcoming posts will include:

The Mud Puddle’s future as a Mexican soap opera star
The second annual “Things I am thankful for”
Why dogs are just as good as siblings (just kidding)

Ok, hope you are well and I PROMISE to write more soon!!

Perception is Relative

Some weeks are harder than others to come with blog topics that a. I can write more than three sentences about and b. that I think someone might find interesting (I know, given some of the drivel I have written it is SHOCKING to think I factor in entertainment value). We have already covered the excitement of Halloween (he was a pterodactyl this year, picture to follow) so I won’t rehash that witch, goblin, and sugar filled experience again.

This week I am going to tell you about the many faces of the Mud Puddle. Depending on your point of view, “he is a delightful little boy with great manners and good work ethic who does what he is told and is a warm friendly fellow to have around”, or “the reason I was put on the earth” or “a whiny nay-sayer who drives me up a freaking wall with his sass and lack of respect”. I will tell you that the three people quoted above are the daycare director, me and my mom. You can pretty much guess who is who.

I occasionally stop to think about what other people’s perceptions are of him and for the most part he is a very well liked fellow. He is well behaved when outside our house. Inside the confines of our abode is a different matter but as long as everyone else sees him as a good guy who am I to complain?

I was reminded of his golden status at daycare this week when the director stopped to tell me how excited he had been on Halloween. Apparently she asked him to do something and he said ‘no’ (welcome to my world!). She went on to say that he never says no and always does as he is asked, in many cases leading the other kids to clean up or line up or quiet down so it came as a surprise when he said no to something. He of course quickly caught himself and did what he had been told.

My mother suggested the other night on the phone that I take a ‘normal’ four year old for an afternoon and see how much complaining I do about the Mud Puddle’s bad behavior after that. Now, this is the same woman who wouldn’t let me get away with ‘yes I did X but so and so did Y which is WAY worse’ when I was a teenager and would lay the “If so and so jumped off a bridge would you??” line on me. But now, ho ho ho, it is a completely different song sheet she is singing off of. Her shmoopsie Mud Puddle is an ANGEL compared to the other kids his age and I should recognize and appreciate how good I have it. MMHMM

I will begrudgingly admit that he is better mannered and more polite than most of the kids his age that I know. Rarely throws a full blown temper tantrum and does help out when asked. I know I am lucky to have a relatively well mannered lad but there is always room for improvement in my book.