Love, Two

A couple of weekends ago, Duncan and I made some Valentines.  Here's the one he made for me:

He made Jamie a more traditional card.  "This color makes camouflage!"  Who knew camouflage was a color, let alone a Valentine's Day color?

Here's the inside:

I'm enjoying all the love in our house these days!

Independence Day

To surprise me last night, Duncan sent me out of the bathroom while he put on his pull up, his pajamas, and his socks and brushed his teeth "all by myself!" (I thought he was just buttoning his pajama top so I was truly surprised. There was a lot of grunting (which sounded like a preschool version of swearing) and self-affirmation ("I can DO this,") followed by sweet triumph. "I put these things on all by myself, AND I brushed my teeth." Sometimes it's so hard to take the time to let him do these things, but it's really important. Not only does he learn valuable self-care skills, but he also learns the feeling of success. I will remember these things when he needed to be in the car 10 minutes ago and insists on zipping his jacket...I swear I will...while I'm counting to 10 inside my head and practicing deep breathing.

Love, One

Duncan is very lovey this week. We have been blessed with a multitude of declarations of love and countless hugs and kisses. It's a nice change. Often, lately, we hear a lot more "No.  No kisses." If we're lucky, "No. No kisses. Only hugs.," or maybe "Only kisses on the cheek." I don't know if it's the impending holiday or everything that was going on at school (and now isn't) (more later), or a new developmental stage. I don't need an explanation. I'll take it and store it for the future.

"Mama.  I love you. I love you to the Korn and back. The Korn is farther than the universe."

Love, pure and simple.

Random Thoughts

I'm secretly thankful that Duncan seems to call Jamie Mama about as often as he calls me Daddy.

Resilience

"Daddy.  I LOVE you, and I think my new school is going to be REALLY cool."

There is a god, and s/he sent me THIS exact child for a reason.  Thank you.

Love is in the Air

Overheard from the kitchen during Duncan's shower:

"Daddy, I LOVE you.  Will you make me a valentine?"

The Children's Museum

This weekend, we all needed a change of scenery so we tried out The Children's Museum in West Hartford, CT.  There was a great hands-on science exhibit, where we played a little with centrifugal force, surface tension, and weather forecasting. It was a little crowded with two birthday parties so we didn't get to play as much with the various Lego exhibits as we would have liked, but Jamie and Duncan practiced constructing buildings and testing them in earthquakes. At the live animal exhibit, we saw a raccoon up close as well as some fancy, large eared cat creature from Africa, and the usual selection of snakes, lizards, turtles, owls, lizards, sugar gliders, and frogs. Duncan enjoyed looking at models of dinosaurs and pretending to drive a Jeep. The museum also has a small planetarium, where we watched a show about the skies over Connecticut. Duncan's attention started to lag after about 10 minutes, but some well time pictures of planets, stars, and solar systems coaxed a few "WOW's" from him. At the end, the presenter asked if there were any questions. Much to our surprise, Duncan raised his hand. We asked what his question was, but he wouldn't tell us.  (Jamie thought Duncan was going to ask "Why is this so boring?")  Every time the presenter answered a question, Duncan raised his hand again. Just when I thought we'd escape with Duncan's question a mystery, the astronomer called on us. My shy, introverted child asked "What the name of the planets is?" "That's a GREAT question..." the answer began, and it ended in a discussion of Pluto's declassification as a planet. Bravo! It was exciting to hear the boy who is struggling with attention and focus ask a relevant question in a room full of people. "That was fun, Mama and Daddy."  "Do you want to come back here again, Duncan?"  "YEAH!"