Mr. Eyeballs

Last week, Noah ate a bowl full of cherries all on his own. I watched him spit out the pits and thought, Is there anything this boy can't do?
Well, yes. He's not quite swimming on his own, and he isn't sure who's older, Great-Grandma or Daddy. But that sweet brain of his is growing, and I see the evidence daily...

The Absurdist
Noah is currently of the surrealist school of humor, randomly inserting words (real or imagined) in sentences and finding it hi-larious: "Is he a...plate? Is he a...pow-pow?" His favorite word is "eyeball." 'Nough said? At least mommy has NO problem making a joke. I didn't know I could be so amusing.

The Ref
Asking permission before he acts. Helpfully telling someone else the rules. Framing the world in terms of good guys and bad guys. This guy's definitely my firstborn. If I think too much about the complexity of helping him understand good and evil, right and wrong, creativity and conformity, justice and grace, it makes me quiver. So I try to meet him where he is... Thank you for asking if you could take your water gun to bed! and Let's pretend we're all good guys! I knew he'd at least understood some of my talk about reform when he told me, "I just shot the bad guys because they were never going to become good guys." (Right: Fireman Noah taking on...The Pool!)

The Mad ManWhen Noah gets angry (not very often), he puts on his self-named "mean eyes" and tells me, "We're not going to have a fun day any more. All the fun is cancelled." It's so adorable that it's hard to respond with the gravity he desires. The other day, when I said no book before bed, he responded, "I'm still going to read at night when you're not there. I think stories in my head and tell them to myself so soft that no one can hear me." We're discussing how to handle anger in healthy ways, but I must say his current expressions are pretty darn good.

Daddy's Boy
Noah thrives on Josh's presence. When we're eating, he still migrates to Josh's lap. He's constantly asking Josh to play, and if Josh says yes (which he usually does), Noah will respond with, "Yeah!! What do you want to play, Daddy?" Whatever the answer, it will involve lots of whispers and giggles and probably a fort of pillows. Awesomeness. As with everything, it comes with its own dark side: Daddy cannot be here all the time. But we're working on being thankful for Daddy's job and the fantastic time we get with him (which is lots - just not 24/7).

The Engineer
With Noah, everything's a treasure. He was upset to lose a toy inside our recliner so we turned the chair upside-down to find...a torn corner of cardboard he was using as "my ticket!" Twists, rubberbands, candy wrappers, string - he's all over it. Love the imagination, creativity, fine motor skills, and physics lessons he's teaching me. No wonder he's a Curious George fan!