November 19, 2007

Some friends of ours from church gave Charlie a box of toys that belonged to their grand kids. They just moved into a smaller house and assured me they didn't need or want the stuff anymore. There was the game "Mr. Mouth" where you try to get the flies in the frog's mouth as it spins around using these little catapult things, a bunch of old Match Box and Hot Wheels cars and a few other, larger, cars, and a Cabbage Patch doll for Greta. They also gave us a huge box of "blocks", which really are just pieces of 2x4 cut from other projects that their grand kids used to use as building blocks for towers and bridges and the like. Well...Charlie has been completely involved with the cars from this fine gift. Up to a point where we've had to threaten him with losing them to get him to do what we've asked him to do. I brought out a box yesterday that included all those "new" cars and some of his "old" cars. I lined them all up in an attempt to illustrate what they do at a monster truck show - where the big truck comes barreling down a ramp and then jumps this long line of cars. I showed him once, and he understood immediately. Then, after doing it once himself, he proceeded to remove all his "old" cars from the line, handing them to me and telling me to put them back in the box. He doesn't want to play with the cars he's had forever, he wants to play with these "new" ones. What's funny is, even though he refers to them as his "new" cars, they're really significantly older than he is; I think the oldest one is from 1976! One of them is even a Match Box-type car that really isn't because it was made in England and is a miniature replica of a 1909 Opel...whatever that is. Another funny Charlie story is the ongoing saga of "Baby Pig." Baby Pig was given to us after Greta was born...so technically it is hers, though Charlie has taken it over. At this point, she's too young to know or care, so we've just let him have it. Charlie came to me one day a week or so ago and said, "Mommy! Baby Pig needs a blanket! He's cold!" Well, of course I had to rush right up to find a blanket for Baby Pig, because we wouldn't want him to be cold for too long, now would we? So I located a Harley Davidson bandanna (appropriate, right?) and handed it to Charlie, telling him, "This can be Baby Pig's blanket, OK?" He took it from me, looked at it sideways, and handed it and Baby Pig to me saying, "But mom...he needs to be wrapped like a burrito!" This means that he wants Baby Pig to be wrapped like we wrap Greta; hands pinned at sides and only head sticking out. (We do this for Greta when she's nursing, taking a bottle, or trying to sleep, because if she can move her hands, she won't settle down. Plus, she's got finger nails like little razor blades and has scratched the you-know-what out of my chest!) "Oh!" I exclaim, as the light bulb finally comes on and I understand what he wants. I show Charlie how to carefully wrap Baby Pig like we wrap Greta and hand the entire bundle back to him. He cradles Baby Pig oh so carefully and says, "Thanks mom! Shhhh...! Baby Pig is sleeping!" So now Baby Pig is the newest addition to our family. I'm not discouraging this because he's being so sweet and gentle and nurturing. I'm sure, however, like all things with three-year-olds, that it won't last long. The other thing he's somewhat obsessed with, in a non-irritating way (thank God!), s painting his room. We're kind of at a stand-still with his room, for a couple of reasons. One reason is because we're getting some of Jamie's grandmother's furniture - which is currently in storage in Johnson City - for Charlie's room. From what I understand, it's a double bed, dresser, a night stand, and a desk. I don't want to do any decorating until that stuff is here and I've figured out where it should go. A second reason is because of that darn extra door into his room!!! I'm chomping at the bit to get the door frame knocked out and the wall closed up so I can move forward with the painting! Once we do that, the rest of the stuff will fall into place. Charlie has decided that as well as the blue color, and the chalk-board paint (which is the real reason he wants us to paint his room), he wants one wall red. I've always sworn I'd never paint any wall in my house red...but if Charlie wants one red wall, and one blue wall...that's perfectly fine with me. Hey, maybe he can have one blue wall, one red wall, one white wall, and one wall that's completely chalk-board paint and bulletin-board cork! That would be cool, huh? What's it going to hurt, really? There's always primer! TTFN JMS