Out of Their Mouths

Zachary & Liam have said some funny stuff lately.

Liam has recently been going through a phase of coming up to you, climbing in your lap, and saying. “Rock a baby?” He wants to be rocked like a baby. So once you are cradling him, he’ll look up at you & say, “You sing it!” “It” being “Rock-a-Bye Baby”. Which is actually a pretty horrible song, but once you sing it, he says “Yay!” and climbs down.

Since we had to cancel our Valentine’s Day plans due to not having anyone to watch the boys, we decided we would at least do something different at dinner. So Josh made some cocktails. We rarely do that, and when we do, it’s normally during football season. That night Zachary had asked us what kind of drink it was. We used to just say “Mommy Juice” or “Daddy Juice”, but then he wanted to know more, so we told him it was an “adult beverage”. He still wanted to know more, so we simply told him it has alcohol in it, and alcohol is not for kids. Now anytime either one of us has a mysterious drink, Zachary will ask if it has alcohol in it. So Sunday afternoon we went out in the back yard and sat in the grass in the sun, just enjoying the beautiful weather. Josh had a beer, and I had a Mike’s Margarita, and the boys were enjoying smoothies that I had made for them. In typical fashion, Zachary asked if our drinks had alcohol (although he did know that Josh’s drink was “beer”). We said yes, and he said, “I learned that you & Daddy like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by drinking alcohol.” I had to laugh, because it’s not like that’s how we like to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was just that we couldn’t go anywhere, so we tried to think of something different we could do. We ruled out candles on the table, because, well, we have Liam. We ruled out making 2 dinners (a kids dinner early and then a grown-up dinner later), because that’s just a pain. So, we settled on cocktails with dinner. And honestly, we each had one. So it wasn’t like we got all sloppy or anything. Then I had visions of him going to school & saying the same thing to his teachers, and leaving them with the impression that we like tp party it up in front of our kids.

There was also another funny Valentine’s Day mis-quote from Zachary on Sunday. On Valentine’s Day, Josh had told Zachary that there was a time many years ago that he didn’t like Valentine’s Day. And that was because he hadn’t met me yet, and he didn’t have a girlfriend or wife to share it with. But now that he has me, he likes Valentine’s Day. So after Zachary’s proclamation that we like to celebrate Valentine’s Day by drinking alcohol, he then said, “I also learned that there was a time when Daddy didn’t like Valentine’s Day because he didn’t have any friends.” Hee hee hee…It’s funny the way they pick up on like 98% of a story, but the 2% that they miss is the most important part.

Finally, it’s not really funny, but something that kind of warms my heart. Every day when I pick the boys up, Zachary is just ready to grab his stuff & go. But Liam takes his time. He likes to show me different things, and talk to his friends (sometimes scolding them if they try to call me “Mommy”). But then I’ll ask him if he wants to say bye to his friends, and he says, “Bye friends!” Sometimes he’ll say it several times, making sure that each one of his friends who’s still there hears him. Then he’ll say bye to his teacher, Ms. Angela, and usually gives her a hug (depending on his mood, or whether she is in the middle of a diaper change). On our way down the hallway, we always have to stop at his old classroom to say bye to the teacher in there, Ms. Toya. I’m pretty certain that she is his favorite teacher, because he ALWAYS wants to either open the door or peek in her window to say bye. And she gets so excited – she comes to the door for hugs & kisses, and you can tell it makes her day when Liam stops to say goodbye to her, even though he’s not in her class anymore. Then as we walk out the front door, we always have to stop in front of the office & say bye to Ms. Stephanie too (or, “Stessenie”, as Liam calls her). There have been times when we are halfway out in the parking lot & Liam will say, “Say bye to Stessenie!” and we have to go back. I love that he likes to take the time to say bye to everyone – it means he will miss them until the next day. I know that he is always excited to go home, but it makes it easier knowing that he’s in a place where he loves the teachers & they love him back.