No longer a chubby, round-faced, drooling, incoherent infant, my littlest baby has an extraordinary vocabulary, uses full and complete sentences, makes his own deductions and decisions, is extremely tenacious and independent, and has an imagination the size of the universe. Just like his brother and sister. All 3 have made me extremely proud of who they have become, and I have high hopes for what each of their futures will bring.
I have learned a lot from all 3 kids. All 3 have their own individual perspective of the world and how to deal with it. And all 3 have helped me immensely to push through difficult periods, overcome negative emotions and see the world a little differently.
- Smile and laugh whenever you can. My Moose is a clown. There is no doubt about that. Every time he sees a camera, whether it's pointed directly at him or not, he'll throw on his biggest, cheesiest "Cheese!" smile he can manage. He's made me laugh in countless ways, almost every single day of his life. He is rarely in a bad mood. And when he is, it usually means he needs a nap. He is one of the happiest kids I know.
- Do it yourself. Have I mentioned lately that he is tenacious and stubborn? How about independent? Yep... there's no question about that either. If he wants it, he'll do whatever he can to get it. Which can be frustrating from a parental point of view, but at the same time, he can do so much by himself that it sometimes amazes me. He's watched this family function around the house, and he knows that if he puts a stool next to the counter, he can open the cabinet and reach the box of gummies. He knows that if he wants to get into the toy chest by the front door, he has to first take off all the stuff that's on top. And he'll do it. Why wait for Mama when I can get it myself?
- Keep up, and learn from the others. Being the youngest of 3 kids, I think he spends a good part of his life trying to keep up with his older siblings. Whatever the older 2 get to do, he wants to do too. This has taught him plenty of things (climbing on the stool to get the gummies is the least of my worries), most of which are pretty harmless. But he never misses an opportunity to watch what the other kids do, mimic it, remember it, and learn from it.
- Do your own thing. As much as he keeps up with his siblings, he's a kid who marches to his own drummer. Sometimes, no matter what any of the rest of us are doing, or how much we try to convince him that he wants to do it too, he refuses. If he wants to sit and play with cars, by golly, he's gonna sit and play with cars. He's not too much of a follower, and I kind of like that in him.
- Share the love. When he was 2 and just learning to speak, I would say to him, "I love you past space." And he would respond with "Ah lah lou pas space, Mama." It was about the sweetest thing a Mama could hear. (That, and when my oldest responds with, "I love you even more.") His newest love line is, "I like you, Mama. You make my heart very happy." Melts me every time. He gives the biggest hugs of anyone, and is usually more than happy to plant a big, wet kiss on someone. For as "moosey" as he is, the love just pours out of him.
- Keep your imagination strong. He has a fake pager that came with a tool bench he got for Christmas. He uses it like a phone. The other day he came up to me and said, very sternly, "Mama! Shhh! I'm on the phone, you have to be quiet now." Then, putting the "phone" between his ear and his shoulder, he said, "Hi, it's me. Now, what you said? Uh-huh. Ok. Sure. Ok, I'll be right there." Then he said something about going to fix something, grabbed his plastic hammer and ran into the other room. Not only did he quote me directly (how many times to the kids get scolded for interrupting a phone call?), but his imagination was in full swing and he was on a mission to fix someone's house. He's also told me that he owns a Rescue Pack (thank you, Diego), that he's a doggie (complete with dog-like actions), and there are monsters in the house he has to go shoot (with his brother's Nerf guns or Star Wars light saber). Definitely no shortage of imagination in this house, and I love it.
I look forward every day to learning from my kids. And it makes me smile to watch them grow, develop and learn. I've no doubt that the future holds great things for all of my kids. I'm already proud of them, and I can't wait to see what else they will teach me.
oooohhh, i thought of K's birthday a few days ago, and with everything going on, totally forgot to do anything about it. Happy Birthday, Moose-boy!! Love from Carol and Malik
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