Funny Stuff

I love the sense of humor of children. My 3 year old niece has recently discovered a new joke.

“Where do cows go on a first date?”

“Where?”

“To the mooooovies!”

She cracks up every time she tells it. Well, Cole is definitely starting to develop his own sense of humor, and I find it thoroughly entertaining. He makes faces at me, blows raspberries and laughs at everything.  He has always been a typical boy, but he has even started to appreciate “bathroom humor” as burping in my face always produces the giggles.  I think his favorite is to tell me no after everything I say and then laugh. (Not Mommy’s favorite.) His new thing (that I think he picked up from my niece) is that he laughs with his hand over his mouth, as if trying to hold it in. (This one I do love.) I just wonder how they learn humor. Sure, sometimes I think he hears people around him laugh, and I know that my laughing tends to egg him on, but there are other times that I just don’t know where the humor comes from. I mean, who told him that passing gas deserves a chuckle?

One of his jokes last week- riding home with his hat covering his eyes and looking around

Big Cousin

So many things amaze me about children in general, but more specifically about my own son. (Naturally.) Most recently, I was struck by his sense of instinct and compassion.

My sister-in-law and brother were blessed with a beautiful baby girl a couple weeks ago, so Cole is now a big cousin. I was curious to see how he would be around someone smaller than him. There are a couple of kids younger than him at day care, so this wouldn’t be his first experience with a baby, but I don’t usually get to witness his reaction. I know he is a good kid, but he can get a little hyper and rambunctious, so I knew that I had to be on alert.

As we arrived at the hospital, I tried to prepare him for what we were doing. I told him about his new baby cousin and how she is little and we have to be nice around her. I’m sure that he didn’t really understand much of what I was saying, but it made me feel good to set the standard.

We went up to the room and waited for the baby to be brought in from the nursery. I don’t know what my nieces Noli and Marleigh (4 and 3) were thinking when they saw her, as they seemed a little hesitant, but Cole got very excited. He shouted, “Baby!” over and over again and smiled and giggled and tried to get near her.

Again, I was a little worried that he would get too excited, leap out of my arms, and jump on top of this tiny newborn. So I held on tight and let him look from afar. But eventually we had to put him down and he ventured over to check out his new cousin. He instantly calmed down. He was still excited, but he didn’t shout or jump around. He smiled and leaned in to kiss her little face and he stroked her gently. It was as if Cole knew how small and fragile she was, and he reacted just right. I think he would have kissed and hugged and touched his new cousin all night if we had let him. We could all learn a thing from my 1 year old’s instinct and compassion.  

Going in for a kiss

Heredity or Environment

When I was younger, I read a poem about whether heredity or environment plays more of a role in the way children are. Although this is a poem about adoption, this is a subject that has always fascinated me. Every day that I look at Cole, I wonder what about him was something he was born with and what is he learning from us and other people.

From the time that he was born, I thought that Cole not only looks like Kevin, but he makes faces like him. Now that he is getting older, I see so much of Kevin’s personality in my little man. It’s hard to tell what he just naturally came into the world with and what he has learned from watching his daddy.

Examples:

Kevin has a tendency to be hyper. A lot of times when I pick up Cole from daycare, he runs the length of the room over and over, crashing into things. Born with genetic hyperactivity.

Kevin likes to run around the house naked. So does Cole. Probably learned.

Kevin is very affectionate. Cole loves to give kisses. Hmm, maybe a little of both.

As the poem concludes…

Heredity or environment- which are you a product of? Both, my darling, both, they’re just different kinds of love.

On the way to Cape May

I recently blogged about lessons that I learned from spending time with my nieces. Well, this past weekend, I took another trip that taught me different lessons that I wanted to share.

After almost 3 years of being married, my husband and I found a rare free weekend and went to Cape May- just the 2 of us. It was much needed, well deserved (if I do say so), and it turned out to be one of the best weekends we have spent together as a married couple. Here is what I learned.

1. Marine life is fascinating.

Since I read my favorite book (She’s Come Undone) when I was 19, and the main character went whale watching, I have wanted to go myself. On this trip I finally got the chance, and it was really an amazing experience. We were told not to expect to actually see a whale, but when we did, it took my breath away. It wasn’t just the whale itself, but fulfilling a dream that I’ve had for so many years that made it so special. The captain told gave us some really interesting information about the marine life that we saw that made the trip that much more enjoyable. I have never been a huge animal lover, but I loved this experience. The only upsetting part of the trip was hearing about how awful captivity is for dolphins and how for every 1 in captivity, there were 3 captured and that being taken out of the wild decreases their life expectancy from 50 to 5 years. It made Kevin and I feel bad about a previous excursion where we swam with these awesome creatures. Something for everyone to think about.

2. Bed and Breakfasts are great places to stay.

We had never stayed at a Bed and Breakfast before, but we loved this experience. It is a little more expensive than it would have been to stay at a motel or hotel, but you can’t beat the personal touches. The innkeepers were like hanging out with your aunt and uncle, the food was better than most restaurants, and we have already talked about going back. I definitely recommend every couple trying this at least once.

3. I still miss my son when I’m away from him.

You would think that after almost 20 months, I would get used to spending time away from Cole. I do it every day when I go to work and have been away from him overnight a couple times before. But as much fun as we had, that angel baby was always on my mind. Kevin even gave a random kid a penny to throw in a fountain because he reminded us of Cole.

4. I am no longer 21.

Okay, I guess I knew that. I mean, in a matter of weeks I will be 10 years away from 21. But it really hit me Saturday night. We were sitting in a bar called Carney’s, listening to an old Irish singer belt out Irish folk songs and popular ballads when I heard the band in the other room playing “I Wanna Be Sedated” which is a song that I love. I commented about it, and Kevin asked if I wanted to go listen to the band. At that moment, I realized that I was perfectly content where I was, listening to the crooner, his cheesy songs and cheesier jokes, in a room where we were the youngest people by 20 years. I just don’t remember when I got so old.

5. It is definitely possible to fall in love with your husband again.

Even after only 3 years of marriage, it is possible to fall into a rut. We are busy people, working and raising our son, and though we try to make time for each other, we aren’t always successful. I never question whether or not I love my husband, but I don’t always take the time to appreciate that love. This weekend, I did. I think we both did. We just really took the time to enjoy what we have together. Sitting on the boat on our whale watching adventure, Kevin leaned towards me and whispered, “On the way to Cape May, I fell in love with you.” Baby, to your cheesy sentiment, I have to say ditto.



Listening to music at an Irish bar



Lessons

While my entire world, and therefore blog, seems to revolve around Cole, I recently spent time with two other interesting subjects and felt that I would be remiss in not writing about them this time. I call these subjects Noli and Marleigh.

For those of you who don’t know, Noli and Marleigh are my nieces and they are 4 and 3, respectively. They are definitely characters and if I learned anything in spending two weekends in a row with them, it’s that I should keep pen and paper on hand in their presence, because I wish I had written down so many of the outrageous things that came out of their mouths. Here are some of the other lessons that I learned.

1. They can be really sweet when they want to be.

- Noli was really scared to go away to our friends’ house where there were going to be dogs, so Marleigh told her, “Don’t worry, Noli. I’ll hold your hand and protect you.”

- Several times while we were down the shore, Noli just looked at me and, for no reason at all, said, “I love you, Aunt Michelle.”

2. Even at this age, they can be boy crazy.

When we were in North Carolina, Marleigh was not shy about her interest in Tom, an engaged man. She flirted with him, kissed him and hung all over him. And when we were down the shore, she had a complete conversation with Noli about how Tom should be marrying her instead of his fiancée Kelly. I’m scared to see what they will be like at 16.

3. They like bathroom humor as much as 12 year old boys.

Yes, they are little girls, but they think burping, tooting (farting) and talking about anything related to body parts is hilarious. Very charming.

4. Don’t piss them off!

Yes, they can be nice and sweet, but if they don’t get their way, watch out. They scream and cry and throw things and are downright scary. Sometimes it is so dramatic that you can’t help but laugh and then they just get angrier. It’s fun to watch Cole stare at them like they’re crazy, though.

5. I wish I had their innocence.

Despite everything else, seeing how fascinated they are with everyday things makes me wish I could be a child again and completely warms my heart. Something as simple as jumping over waves or looking for “mermaid purses” on the beach produces the biggest smiles and makes all your troubles fade away.



Marleigh and Noli on the way to North Carolina



Loverboy

Every mom longs for the day that her own child learns how to give kisses. Those sweet, little baby lips just loving on you- it’s the best. I don’t remember exactly how old Cole was when he learned to give kisses, but I remember being very excited and asking for them over and over. Then, one day as we were leaving day care, his “girlfriend” blew a kiss to him, and he sent one back her way. Soon he was a kissing machine. And now he’ll give kisses to just about anybody. And hugs, too. He leans in and puts his head on your shoulder as his way of giving a hug.

Now, as much as I love that Cole is so affectionate, it does get in the way of everyday life sometimes. When I pick him up from day care at the end of the day, every single person there gets a hug and a kiss- twice. He does one round and then goes back for another before he will leave with me. Even the cat gets a kiss if he will sit still long enough. As sweet as it is to see my son being so loving, I kind of like the days when he is the last kid to be picked up, because with less people to kiss goodbye, we can get out of there faster. And it’s not just people he knows. We had a hard time getting out of the dollar store one day because he was blowing so many kisses to the cashier.

But I will try my best not to complain. I’m sure when the teenage years come around, I’ll be missing these days of kisses. And so will the cashier at Family Dollar.

Cole giving his new friend Logan a kiss. Logan wasn't so sure about it.

Whose Birthday is it?

I often think about how we really know we are parents. Do you find yourself doing or saying things that you wouldn’t have dreamed of before you had a baby? Do you go to bed earlier and get up earlier? Have you broken down and bought a minivan? Whatever has changed about you, every parent knows that your life is never the same once you have a child. A great example of this is how we celebrated my husband’s 32^nd birthday- at Sesame Place.

With Cole’s aforementioned recent obsession with Elmo, Kevin thought that his birthday would be the perfect day to take our little Sesame Streeter to the ultimate place to see Elmo- Sesame Place, conveniently located just an hour away in Langhorne, PA. (I did find myself thinking that day that I wonder whose idea it was to choose this town out of all the places in the country.)

We had a blast with Cole, riding the rides, playing in the water, watching the parade. The large, furry characters did prove to be a little scary, but it was all worth it. In fact, we had such a good time that we bought season passes for the rest of this year and next year.

My birthday is coming up soon. I wonder what we’ll do. The zoo? Dutch Wonderland? You have to love being a parent.

On our way there, wearing his new Elmo shirt.