Airplane!

Sometimes I just marvel at how much has changed since Aleksander was born. It isn’t just the obvious things that change when you have a child. Lately what strikes me most is how many little things I now notice.

A few weeks ago, Aleksander heard an airplane fly over our house. I pointed up and said “airplane!” Ever since, he points to the sky and says something like “hezzuh” (his word for anything he sees outside) whenever he hears an airplane. We’ve lived in our house for 3 years. I don’t know if I’ve ever noticed the sound of a single plane flying overhead. But now… I hear them all day long! I had no idea we were in the flight pattern of so many planes!

There are also many new – or previously insignificant – things to get excited about. Garbage trucks, delivery trucks, trucks of any kind really. When I’m at my yoga class each week, I can see the local train go by 3 or 4 times. It always makes me smile to think of how Aleksander would enjoy the sight. Then there are the squirrels (I remember a time when they were so loathsome as they ran rampant on our college campus). And now the birds are out, too, singing their songs. My dad put up a bird feeder for us when he was here a few weeks ago. Now we have beautiful chickadees and goldfinches outside our window all day.

Aleksander reminds me throughout each day – usually with his brilliant smile – to find joy in all the little things. This morning, he walked into the room, waved to me, and gave me a huge smile. What could be better than that?

Question: What little things do you notice now because of your child?

Elmo vs. Big Bird

I’ve been away from my blog for some time now. More on that another time. Right now, I just have to stop and take note of the latest funny, kooky thing that Aleksander is doing. Once again, we return to the crackers….

Every evening before bed, Aleksander has a little snack of milk and crackers. He usually has the Earth’s Best Crunchin’ Crackers, which come in two shapes: Big Bird and Elmo. We keep the crackers in a little plastic container. I’ve already written about how he wouldn’t eat any of the broken ones. He seems to have gotten over that for the most part. But lately he has been taking some time to select a cracker out of the container. I just realized he has eaten all of the Elmo crackers and left the Big Birds behind!! What?!

I can’t imagine where he could have possibly gotten such a preference. I know there are plenty of kids who are crazy about Elmo, but as far as I know Aleksander isn’t one of them. We don’t really watch any Sesame Street yet, and the only other time he has any “interaction” with the character is when I put on his diapers. So why choose Elmo over Big Bird? I have no idea. Yet another mystery of the toddler mind!

Question: What kind of unusual, unexpected, kooky things does your toddler do?

Even the Bad Days Are Good

I had a rough weekend. Came down with some kind of bug. I still don’t know what it was. But I was good for nothing all day Sunday. So when I came downstairs this morning, I very quickly plummeted into a dark mood. No one had emptied the dishwasher, so there were dirty dishes all over the kitchen. Aleksander’s toys were everywhere. The house was in a general state of chaos. I had thirty minutes to get Aleksander dressed and fed before we headed out to music class. Oh yeah, and I still had to take out the trash. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

My day was definitely not off to a good start. To make matters worse, I was having trouble not blaming PER for every rotten little thing. He’d been holed up in his office for most of the weekend, working. So it really wasn’t his fault. But I’m afraid I sent him off with quite a grumble, and he won’t be back from his business trip until late Thursday.

But all that changed when I opened the car door to get Aleksander and take him in to music class. My little man greeted me with a great, big, joyful smile! My heart melted and all my frustrations dissolved in an instant. That sweet little boy was so perfectly happy just to see me! It was quite a gift.

Oh, and PER ended up stopping back home before he went to the airport to pick up the sunglasses he’d left in my car. So I was able to send him off with the goodbye kiss I wished I’d given him that morning 🙂

Question: Do you have a story about a little moment that changed your whole day?