I love that his vocabulary is expanding almost hourly. He's been reading really well for a while now and enjoys sounding out words and asking what things mean and what they rhyme with and and and. He likes to sit in bed and read stories by himself now and not just as a delaying tactic at bedtime.
I love the father/son nerdy bonding time that occurs when they play Lego Starwars together. It's Torby's most precious and beloved game at the moment and he estra loves it when Nw is home to play it with him. I think that Nw secretly loves it as well. Given that both of his parents enjoy computer games, it's nice to see that he does too. He's also very very very fond of card and board games. I like that he uses his brain and figures stuff out and remembers rules and strategies (not always succesfully, but we're getting there).
I love that he's having a great time at pre-school and it really has helped with him dealing with crowds of kids better. I love the updates I get when I pick him up of an afternoon. I hear about how he read a book aloud to the other kids, how he looks after the little kids, how he and another boy will be the lead dancers in the christmas pageant, how he leaps off the play equipment and hits his head. Okay maybe not the last one.
I love that he still loves hugs and kisses and snuggles. As annoying as it can be in the morning when I'm trying to eat breakfast and check emails and he decides that he needs to sit on my lap and have my arm around him, I will really miss it when it stops. Getting told 'I love you so so much mummy' is also a pretty good way to start the day.
I love that he is getting independant and confident. That he wants to do stuff on his own, that he is looking forward to school next year, that he runs all the way home from preschool but still stops at the roads so he can hold my hand across, that he uses my keys to open the gate when we get home, that he has figured out to pull a chair over to the lightswitch when he wants the lights on and we're too asleep/lazy to do it for him, that he will happily sleep over at people's places.
I love that he tries to negotiate. 'I have a really good idea....I will have 2 treats tonight and then tomorrow I will only have 1' was last night's effort. You can imagine how succesful that was. In fact most of his "really good ideas" make me laugh. The other day we got 'I have a really good idea. I will stay home and play starwars with no-one to look after me and then I'll have treat for dinner.Yes? yes?'
I love that he will storm off to his room in a huff. Not because I like that he gets grumpy or upset, more that I know I can then go in after a few minutes and talk about what happened and why he got upset and why he feels the way he does and ways to fix it. I like that he is figuring out ways to deal emotions rather than just give into them. It's a long slow lesson that even I haven't quite got the grasp of sometimes.
I love that he is starting to eat a wider variety of food. okay okay it's just pasta and chicken that's been added to the repetoire, but it's something. He will now mostly try things without having hysterics over it. Once again, we repeat the mantra 'he eats lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of fruit and vegetables'
I love that he enjoys the garden. He will go potter out there and come back munching on some parsley or mint. Love that the cousins will go out there when they're over and the weather is good and plant things..sesame seeds for instance.
I love that for all he is growing and changing and becoming such a big brave clever kid, he's still my baby boy and still needs comforting sometimes. He still retreats to us and demands hugs, he still carries around his special blankie in the mornings, he will still cry out for us in the middle of the night if he has a bad dream, he still likes to sit on my lap when he's tired and needs a quiet moment. I dread the day when we're no longer so immediately nescessary. Dread it and look forward to it as it will show that we've done our job of raising an independant human being who can function usefully in society. But mostly dread it.
2 comments:
I love that you are enjoying this parenting business so much. That you can look past the day to day fights/negotiations/exhaustion to the bigger picture of appreciating where your son is at and revelling in the moments that are special (and all too fleeting in the grand scheme of things).
I am personally of the opinion that we never stop needing our parents. We fool ourselves that we don't want them or that they're stupid and hateful and the cause of all our woes, or that we're too big for a hug/cuddle from them. For some, this is true, but for most of us, it's all part of the delusion of adulthood.
Our parents have been there for us since before we were born. They have loved us in spite of ourselves. So I'm sure Mr Torby will still, even as an adult, will enjoy sitting beside you and sharing his problems with you and even getting a cuddle from you. Yes, even if he's a functional independent human being!
Awww thanks.
I guess i just want him to always need us but also be able to solve his own problems and have enough confidence and understanding of his own self-worth to be able to reassure himself that everything is okay when life gets bumply. Just not for a few years :)
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