Culinary Delights

Today, Sam had his first bite of real food: peaches! Although I knew Theo would enjoy "helping" to feed Sam, I decided to do it while he was in his room on Quiet Time, since the first time can be a bit tricky. When Theo came downstairs and saw the empty bowl with a baby spoon in it, he said, "What's that?!" I explained that Sammy had tried peaches, and Theo said, "Can I share some peaches with him?" I replied that he could the next time I fed Sam, and he then said, "Actually, can Sammy have some salami?"

Hmmm, I don't think heavily processed, cured meats are on the "Approved Baby's First Foods" list!

The Pitfalls of Pee

Theo has recently begun standing to pee (which is actually rather comical, since he tends to stretch his "parts" out like a piece of Silly Putty--ouch!). The other day, I was trying to shove a tuna sandwich down my throat quickly, while Sam wailed. (He's in a "hold me all the time, Mommy!" phase, but my back was killing me after a couple of weeks of this, so I put him down to eat my sandwich.) Theo chose that moment to have to go potty, and I heard this from the bathroom:

Theo: Mommy! I made a HUGE poop!
Me (around a mouthful of tuna): Terrific. Be sure to wipe yourself and then flush.
Theo: And actually, Mom, I peed all over my socks.
Me (snickering around said mouthful of tuna): Okay, that happens. Just take them off and leave them in the bathroom for me.

A few minutes later, I see Theo wandering around with his socks on.

Me: Theo, I told you to take off your socks and leave them in the bathroom for me!
Theo: Actually, I'm just wearing them wif pee, Mommy.

Of course...why not?!

Hit Man

I'm beginning to fear for my life. Theo desperately wants to go to daycare (because his lady love Paulina goes), and he has hatched a plan to bump off me and Chris so he can go. The discussion went something like this:

Theo: I want to go to daycare!
Me: You don't have to go to daycare--Mommy works at home so she can stay home with you.
Theo: When I don't have a mommy and daddy anymore, then I can go to daycare!
Me: You're always going to have a mommy and daddy....
Theo: When mommy and daddy go on vacation, then I can go to daycare!
Me: Well, usually you go with us on vacation....
Theo: When mommy and daddy are in the stars, then I can go to daycare!

"In the stars" is his description of what most people would call heaven--where people go when they die. We haven't wanted to get into discussions of religion with him, so it's been easiest to just tell him that deceased people and animals are "in the stars."

That said, if I find out he has taken out a large insurance policy on our heads, I'm going to be really worried.

Ruled by Logic

The thing that drives Chris most nuts about me is the fact that I'm logical to a fault. It seems that Theo has followed in my footsteps. Yesterday, we had this conversation when I noticed that he had colored the inside of our van with crayons.

Me: Theo, why did you color the inside of the van?!
Theo: Because I didn't have any paper.

Logical, yes? But here's the illogical kicker: He hates coloring and usually will only do it under duress! So why he suddenly felt compelled to color the inside of the van is beyond me! And don't ask me how he got crayons in the van--I have no idea. I suspect Chris, since I know I didn't give them to him!

He's in Good Company

Theo is certain he was present at Chris's and my wedding. And despite my grandmother's suspicions, he was not--he became a twinkle in our eyes about three weeks after the fact. But I don't care to explain conception and such to him in great detail at this point, so our recent conversation went like this:

Theo: Mommy and Daddy got married there [pointing to the lodge where we were married]!
Me: Yep!
Theo: And I was there, too!
Me: Nope, you weren't there.
Theo: Where was I?
Me: You weren't here with us yet.
Theo: But where was I?
Me: You hadn't been made yet. You remember how Sammy grew in my tummy for a long time? So did you--but you hadn't even started to grow in my tummy when we got married.
Theo: Well, where was I?
Me: Um...you were in the stars.
Theo: I was up in the stars with Johnny Cash!

Interesting. Who knew he was hanging out with the Man in Black while he waited to grace us with his presence?!

Someday It'll Be My Turn...

Following up on my previous post about Theo being stingy with his "I love you" when it comes to me...we had this conversation today.

Me (hugging Theo): I love you, buddy!
Theo: I love Sammy!
Me: Anyone else?
Theo: I love the dogs, too....

I'm trumped by two pugs. Nice. :-)

You like me! You really like me!

Remember the infamous Sally Field Oscar-acceptance speech where she said, "You like me!"? I felt that way the other day. Theo has only recently begun to verbally express love. He has shown it for a long time, but he never verbally said "I love you" until a couple of months ago, when he said it to Sam. (Side note: I think it's awesome that his first "I love you" went to his baby brother!) He continues to say it to Sam frequently. Shortly after he said it to Sam, he also said it to Chris. And then the dogs. But never me.

Now, I know that Theo loves me. In fact, second to Sam, he probably loves me more than anyone. I'm his mom, and I'm with him all of the time. But therein lies the problem: I'm his mom, and I'm with him all the time, so I'm the chief disciplinarian most of the time. And I have to devote a fair bit of attention to his baby brother. These things probably bug Theo, so he doesn't feel like telling me he loves me. And that's fine. Well, it's mostly fine. I let Theo think it's fine, and I know logically that it's fine...but a tiny piece of me would love to hear an "I love you" from him sometime...when he's ready.

The other day, we got close! He was sitting on my lap watching an episode of Blue's Clues when he turned around, put his arm around my neck, and said, "Mommy, I just...like you."

It's close. I'll take it. :-)