Ten Things Tuesday

Today I want to list ten (of the million) reasons I'm thankful for my mom.

1. She always listens to me. I can call her anytime and she listens to everything I have to say, even the really boring stuff and convinces me that she's interested.

2. She's honest. She listens to what I have to say and is honest with her opinion, which I really do value, even if it's not what I want to hear.

3. She's a wonderful (not great, as I originally wrote) grandmother. My boys call her "Amina" and love her like crazy. Paul is always wanting to go to Amina's house.

4. She couldn't love my boys more if they were girls. She wanted a granddaughter, but is happier than she could have imagined with the boys.

5. Free childcare. Yes, Amina is usually available to take care of the boys when I need or want some child-free time. I suspect that she's cancelled plans to babysit, though she won't admit it.

6. She's a great mother-in-law. Coker only has good things to say about her. This also says something positive about Coker, but that can be another list.

7. She's a navigation-genius. If you're ever lost, just give her a call. If you want to know what (Texas) county a city is in, give her a call on that one too.

8. She's a number-genius. She can remember them, add them, etc. It's kind of weird.

9. She's nearby. It's just easier that way.

10. If you talk to her, you'd think I'm perfect.

Little Sir Echo

Mom reminded me of a game my aunt played with me when I was little. I don’t know if my Aunt Maeda invented “Little Sir Echo,” but as far as I'm concerned, she did. TJ is at the perfect Little Sir Echo stage. He repeats the last couple of words anyone says. Here’s the formula (singing is required – you can call for the tune):

Me: Little Sir Echo

TJ: Sir Echo

Me: How do you do?

TJ: You do

We all giggle.

TJ's Song

TJ enjoyed the State Fair so much he felt like singing on the way home...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sorry I don't know how to do the bouncing ball thing, but I'll try to translate. "To you, bye bye, bye bye, at house, at McDonald's, ????, I did it (6 times)" I'm not really sure what he's celebrating having accomplished, but he'll break into this song at Paul's suggestion. Finally, he's tired at goes to the thumb.

Meredith's New Toy

TJ broke my camera. It was just a little more to get a new AWESOME refurbished camera from Cannon than to fix my old camera, which I loved. New AWESOME camera just arrived. It told me to "raise the flash" for this shot: I wish the boys were home to act as subjects, but I guess these roses work for now...

The 10x optical zoom is wonderful and it has stabilization, so the "shaking camera" image on my viewfinder is a thing of the past. How do I get it to focus on the bloom I want, though?

Can't type now, I've got to play with my new toy!

Scary Elmo

TJ has discovered Elmo. He likes to watch the end of Sesame Street, which is Elmo's World. When Paul asked to watch a movie, I noticed Elmo in Grouchland and thought that would be a fun one to watch again. I've seen it about a million times, because it was Paul's favorite movie for a while.

Paul does not remember ever seeing it, and he is now afraid of the villain, Huxley. Paul came to me crying because he was so scared. He even turned off the DVD player. Huxley is played by Mandy Patinkin, who is a great actor, but not very scary. This is what gets me: Paul has watched so many movies that I consider to be inappropriate and too scary like Star Wars, Spiderman and some of Lord of the Rings. He says none of these are scary. I told him I think Gollum is scary and he disagreed.

The thing that really terrifies Paul is thinking that there's someone out there who might take your favorite blanket, refuse to give it back and carry it off to some far away place.

TJ wasn't upset that he didn't get to see all of the movie. It was bedtime anyway. He got to curl up with a little stuffed Elmo.

Birthday Presents for Dad

I asked Paul what we should get Coker for his birthday.
"Nothing Star Wars or Spiderman."
"Probably not. He can play with your toys."
"I KNOW! A new i-pod!!"
"That's a great idea, but..."
"That's what we got him last year." Great memory, Paul!
"Instead of a couch upstairs, how about a new bed?"
"How about something smaller?"

He did come up with a couple of good ideas, which we found at the mall today. TJ will give him one item and Paul will give him the other. Now we find out if Paul can keep a secret.

Updates

Coker did a dance when Paul presented the missing remote.

Paul and TJ have been playing very well together. I did not detect any torture today, though they did annoy one another at different times.

Paul's friend got a new puppy, and Paul cried big tears because he wants a puppy so badly and doesn't understand how his friend has two and he has none. We'll see if he remembers the puppy tomorrow. In two weeks, he'll probably mention it out of nowhere.

TJ's still a good helper. He took a snack and a drink to Paul.

My camera's broken. I came into the room to find TJ playing with it and now every picture I take is the night sky without the stars and moon.

There's playdoh on my floor.

I kissed and made 4 bumps better today.