4 year olds, Stickers, & Weddings

A couple weeks ago, the Santos kids were over at our house for dinner while Mandy & Filipe had their Date Night. Andy and I had the joy of eavesdropping on this dinner conversation...by the end of it we were laughing so hard we were nearly in tears!

Lily was very excited about a sticker she had and said she was going to wear it forever and ever...even at her wedding.
To this Caedmon replies, "I'm not going to marry you, Lily."
Lily: "Yes you are!"
Caedmon: "No, I will run away."
Lily: "No. You will stay AND you will be a pastor."
Caedmon: "No, Lily. I will run away."

Lily was getting very concerned by this point and said in a somewhat desperate voice, "Well someone has to marry me or I won't have a husband!"

Caedmon: "No, Lily. I won't let anyone marry you. I will kill all the boys at your wedding."

This about put Lily over the edge, so she looked to us for reinforcement. She said, "Caedmon said he's going to kill everyone at my wedding but I wanted to show them my sticker!"

The conversation ended at this point because Andy & I were laughing so hard we couldn't even reply. However, that was evidently NOT the end of the conversation for Lily and Caedmon because by the end of the night they had worked out a compromise. Caedmon said to me, "Mom, Lily said I could come to her wedding if I promised not to kill everyone."

Glad they were able to work that one out.

 Popsicles after dinner.

This is the way we bribe the girls to love our house!

My Lunch-Time Conversation with Caedmon

Caedmon (4 years old): "Mom, are teenagers adults that are kids?"
Me: "Umm, yeah, that's a pretty good definition."
C: "Tell me everything about teenagers."
Me: "Teenagers often make irrational decisions."
C: "Okay, what else?"
Me: "Teenagers experience a lot of hormonal changes."
C: "Okay, what else?"
Me: "Teenagers often have an increased attraction toward the opposite gender."
C: "Okay, what else?"
Me: "That's all I know."

A White-Mama Moment

Can I just remind everyone that black people hair is quite different than white people hair? Poor Sammy. Despite all our efforts to tame it, his hair has been getting more and more frizzy ever since we got home. And, evidently, other people have begun to notice as well...

The other day I was in Walmart when an African American woman stopped me.

She said, "Ma'am, may I ask you a question?"
Me: "Sure"
Her: "Do you ever put any type of oil on his hair?"
Me: "Well, I have this stuff called Shea Butter that I put on it every night. It's supposed to moisturize it."
Her: "No. Uuh-uuh. That's not gonna work. Look how dry his hair is."

She touches his hair and just says over and over again, "Look how dry it is. Do you see how dry it is?"

I nod my head rapidly in agreement, like confessing a sin. I felt the need to apologize or something. She told me of a couple products to try and when I walked away I just whispered to my son, "I'm sorry, Sammy. You've got a white mama and she doesn't know what in the world to do with your hair!"

The hair saga continues...

Last night Andy let me take a break and go to Starbucks for a couple hours after dinner. He said he was going to take the boys over to Super Cuts to get Sammy a haircut (for the first time). When I came home I was shocked to see that Sammy had been all but scalped! No more hair for Sammy, poor guy. Andy said it was quite the traumatic experience as Sammy was petrified of the clippers. He screamed the entire haircut head shaving.

Guess I won't be needing those hair products after all...

Better and better...

We're making progress here at the Wood household. It is painfully slow, but it is progress no less. Here is one example:

Sammy was having some pack-n-play time yesterday while I was getting ready. Pack-n-play time has improved from constant screaming to standing there watching my every move to occasionally engaging with his toys. Yesterday, Caedmon climbed in with him for a few minutes and there was (quite surprisingly) no screaming. I had to take a picture to remind myself that not 100% of their interactions involve tears.

Also, the past three nights Sammy has only woken up one time each night as opposed to the typical 4-5 times. That is VERY exciting for me and I am hopeful that the trend will continue.

Lest you think that life is smooth sailing around here...Sammy has bit Caedmon at least half a dozen times now and continually throws objects (like play screwdrivers) at all of us. Caedmon has a black eye and a gash on each eye from two separate incidents (not involving Sammy)...that should look nice for school pictures on Thursday. Sammy fell off a stool today and I called the nurse thinking he might have a concussion. The kitchen is now "off limits" for the boys because so many injuries happen in there. Caedmon is back on Albuterol and Flovent for wheezing which makes him absolutely insane. Sometimes in a funny way, sometimes in a I-might-put-you-in-a-straight-jacket way.

Me? I've only cried once so far this week, which I guess is progress, too.

Sound Sleeper?

This shirt is a total joke. We keep putting it on him hoping it will be prophetic. It's not working, yet...

"Hi, Sammy. How are you doing at 2 AM?"
"Sammy, good to see ya. (sarcasm) It's 3 AM."
4 AM: "Yep, we're still here. Didn't go anywhere in the last hour."
6 AM: "Sammy, go back to sleep. Still have another hour to sleep."

Oh, for a uninterrupted night of sleep...yawn.