• Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
We had to wake Joel up from a pretty sound sleep this morning. He often protests bedtime but once he’s down he sleeps like a champ. Today it was clear that he was dreaming because the first thing he said was, “I need to go back to the house.”
“What house honey?”
“It was a big house by a sidewalk and with a boy and there was a pinball inside of the house. We need to go there!”
“What kind of pinball was it?”
“It was a Lightning McQueen pinball!” (it should be noted here that there is no such thing as a Lightning McQueen or Cars pinball game, although that would be COOL!)
At this point I kind of smiled at him and got squatted down on my knees so I was on his level. I looked him in the eye and with what I hoped was a kind fatherly smile tried to explain that he was just having a dream. That sometimes when we sleep we see things but we just are imagining them, they aren’t real.
He looked back at me with wide eyes and said, “but it IS real!”
There was a mix of conviction & confusion in his voice that I don’t often hear, something very earnest. Different than the way he’ll tell us with all the authority he can muster that “it IS time to watch a movie” or “we ALWAYS have ice cream”. He was so sure of his visions, his memories that he couldn’t believe that I was telling him they weren’t real.
“It was only a dream honey.”
He put is head down, curled up in my lap and cried.
Parenting is hard.
Posted from benaar’s posterous
• Sunday, January 10th, 2010
It’s been 2 solid days now of solo parenting, and to be honest I think it’s gone really well. Isaac has been merciful to me during the nights and only woken up once at 3am. Even then I just had to pick him up, comfort him a bit and set him back down and he went right back to sleep. So yeah… dodged that bullet!
The thing I’ve noticed most over the last couple days is exactly how “busy” these boys are. While I will fully admit to liberal use of Curious George as a diversion, in those moments when I’m cleaning up from a meal or doing dishes or something I’ll hear Joel in the other room playing make believe with his trains. He’ll be acting out a scene from one of the books or movies, or just making up his own dialog. It’s really cute, and a good reminder to me that while I do enjoy rough-housing with him it’s important for him to have his OWN playtime too.
Isaac is all about the business of developing his 9 month old skill set. And he is SERIOUS too. If he’s pulled himself up to stand next to Joel’s train table and discovered a new toy (which we have an abundance of these post-Christmas days) you’d be well advised not to try and take it away from him because he’ll let you know how unhappy that makes him. It’s as if every single new trinket he finds is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen… and in some ways that may be true. He’s so determined about it too. It’s like the second he’s done eating he’s scanning the room, ready to start exploring. Look out Dad, I gotta PLAY!
We’re heading to Tacoma today to spend a little time with Grandma & Grandpa and then Sarah should be home by dinnertime. I’ll be nice to have her home with us, but I’ve also really enjoyed this special time with my boys.
The dynamic duo at yesterday’s Mobile Chowdown.
Posted from benaar’s posterous
• Friday, November 06th, 2009
Last night at the dinner table, my 3 year old told his first knock knock joke.
Joel: “Daddy, I want to tell you a joke”
Me: “OK”
Joel: “Knock, knock”
Me: “Who’s there?”
Joel: “Goat”
Me: “Goat who?”
Joel: “Goat to the door and find out!”
I just about fell off my chair. I dunno why it caught me as so funny, I mean it’s a cute joke but definitely not in the comedic genius category or anything. I think it was the idea that he, in his own little 3 year old way, was pulling one over on me. I hadn’t heard that particular joke before (or if I had I’d long since forgotten the punch line) so when he delivered, slightly bumbling and trying to remember exactly how it went I was at once surprised, proud and completely tickled. Brilliant!
Just wait ’till Uncle Sean comes over…
Posted from benaar’s posterous
