Even sweeter, right?
And yet... see the undercurrent of aggression? As in "I love you, you're my best friend... and at any moment this hug might become a choke hold"?
That's pretty much their whole relationship, captured on film (not that anyone uses film anymore, but that's neither here not there).
Ok, so it was less a 'stage' than the sanctuary of the church where he goes to preschool. And it wasn't so much a 'show' as it was a group of 3 and 4 year olds sing/yelling all the songs they've learned this year.
But for my boy... the dark haired skinny one all the way on the left-hand side... it may as well have been Broadway. He was SO excited. He's been talking about it for weeks, and last night he asked if we could go to the store and buy a 'new fancy suit' for the occasion. I convinced him that a button-up shirt and khakis would suffice. He sang every word of every song with the most amazing little smile in his face-- a little shy, but mostly proud. The way he picked me out of the crowd and smiled at me after every song nearly turned me into a puddle of mush (and picking me out did take some work on his part-- Zack was not nearly as enthralled with the singing as Paul and I were, and so I spent the entire time moving around the back of the church and shushing him). And director's son that Brady is, he gave subtle little disapproving glances at the kids who sang too fast. When it was all over, he ran to Paul with so much excitement that there may or may not have nearly been some man tears. Our boy was SO proud of himself, and I am even more proud of him. It was definitely a Moment.
And then Zack loudly announced for the hundredth time, "I jus wan go HOME!" So we followed the crowd back to the classroom, where the excitement of donut holes quickly overshadowed Brady's excitement about his performance.
It was a good morning.
That's Brady, Zack, and their train-loving buddy Vincent, willingly posing for a picture-- as long as they could pose with the train-crossing signal.
Thank goodness the zoo (and, of course, the train) are open again for the season. I needed that bribery ammo.
Baby 3D is a GIRL!!! Somehow I already knew it, but was afraid to believe it.
Paul sums it up nicely-- "This just got expensive, didn't it?" He's a wise man. After 2 boys, I believe it is my right-- nay, my DUTY!-- to indulge in some sparkly/frilly/ruffly stuff. And given that she'll be the first granddaughter on either side of the family in over 20 years, I doubt I'll be the only one who feels that way. But let's be honest. A girl with two older brothers will be able to make fart jokes with the best of 'em. I already love her so much.
love nothing more in the world than the after-dinner movie and popcorn. Tonight we watched 'The Fox and the Hound'... except for that Brady couldn't remember the word 'hound', and kept saying 'ham'. 'The Fox and the Ham' would have been a much shorter movie.
All Zack was concerned with was 'More pah-corn, peeeease!' They make me laugh.
We take for granted what is there all the time-- and for us this time is year, that tends to be snow.
So it took Crazy Uncle Andy (my brother) visiting from Santa Barbara, where there is NEVER snow, to get us all excited about bundling up and playing outside. It's the same as how nobody in LA actually sees the Hollywood walk of fame unless their relatives are visiting from Oklahoma. Anyway, we played with our new sled, made snow angels, and Andy and Brady built a snowman. I had my first real snowball fight (Andy is guilty of a few cheap shots, namely when I would turn around to make sure my kids weren't running into the street... and I also had to remind him not to hit me in my pregnant belly), and it was great. Zack kept managing to get snow in his gloves, so he and I didn't last all that long outside. Andy and Brady, on the other hand, were in it for the long haul. Am I in a big hurry to spend 20 minutes bundling the kids so we can be cold anyway again? Not especially, and certainly not without an eager assistant like Andy (Brady is another story, and I'm sure he'll be dragging me outside soon). But at least we can say we've done it, and it was fun. It was a long time coming, but I feel like we just became a tiny bit more Nebraskan.
Zack says, "Hey girl, what's up. Wanna check out my closet?"
I have lots of updating to do, mostly Christmas-related. For now, however, I am rocking in a dark room with an almost 20-month-old who has decided that he would like to take the rest of his nap on top of me. I know I have precious little time left when he'll want to do this before he's all big and independent, so I'm letting him. It's not a half bad way to spend a piece of a Tuesday afternoon. In other news:
