Is that kind of like a Liger?

I can't believe I just used a Napoleon Dynamite reference because I thought that movie was the dumbest thing on Earth, but hopefully as you read the story below you'll see how it fits...hopefully.

In lieu of an Advent calendar this year, we are going through an Advent book with Jack. The book is kind of like the I Spy books and each day's devotion has us hunting for a related item in a busy picture. After we find the specified item, we spend some time looking at all the other things in the picture as well. Last night's picture included a stack of alphabet blocks displaying the letters F, U and N. Jack rattled off the names of the letters like a pro, even correcting himself when he slipped up on the F. Then we moved on to the sounds that each of the letters make and tried to put them together to read the word.

So I asked, "What sound does F make?"

"Fffff," Jack replied.

"What sound does U make?" I continued.

Jack replied with, "Aaahhh."

"Uh," I corrected.

"Uh," Jack confirmed.

We continued the quiz with a "What sound does N make?" question and an "nnnnnnnn" response.

"Good," I said, "let's put those sounds together: fffffffff-uh-nnnnnnn."

Jack mimicked with, "fffffff....uh....nnnnnnn."

And then together, "ffffffff-uh-nnnnnnn."

"Dolphin?," Jack asked.

"No, ffffffff-uh-nnnnnnn," was my reply.

With full confidence this time, Jack replied, "Dolphin."

"No, listen to the sounds: fffffffff-uh-nnnnnnnn," I corrected.

With exasperation in his voice, Jack replied "Dolphin!"

With a little exasperation of my own I told him, "Jack, the first sound is ffffffff, not duh."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Jack, not quite so sure this time, replied, "Folphin?"

After Sean and I composed* ourselves, Jack and I went round a couple more times until he finally discovered that the word was "fun."

After I had finished tucking Jack into bed, Sean wondered what kind of animal a "folphin" might be (and now, hopefully, you see why the Napoleon Dynamite reference is fitting).

*I fully understand that all parents think their own children's antics are hilarious and I am no exception, so when I say this it is with full knowledge that I have laughed at many many things that may or may not have been funny that Jack has said or done over the last four years: I think this was the hardest I've laughed at something he's said.

The First of Many

Last night we had the pleasure of attending the first of many of our children's Christmas programs. Jack was the only lucky one that got to participate, but two years from now both boys will be up there and Elise will follow the year after that.

Some kids really got into the performance. Jack? Not so much.

There was one song he didn't sing at all!

Wes was going to be sure he didn't miss any of Jack's

performance (yep - those are binoculars he's holding up).

After attending only one of these programs, I now understand that children's Christmas programs are really only for the parents and grandparents. Of course I thought it was fantastic, but I'm not so naive to believe that a non-related party would have enjoyed much more than the few moments of comic relief. You know, those inevitable mishaps that end up being the highlight of the show. Things like:

One of the main characters telling the audience that the whole evening could be summed up in one verse: John 3:16 and 17 (um...I thought he said one?)

Or when that same character tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only forgotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Or perhaps Joseph's (you know someone has to be dressed like Joseph) headress comes down so low over his eyes that he has to tilt his head way back to peak out from below.

Things like that...

Perhaps my favoite element of the evening, however, was the book of letters that was sent home with all the parents that the students had written to the "characters" in the Christmas story. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Dear Mary,

Were you happy when you had Jesus? Are you happy now? I am happy now.

Dear Jesus,

Was it cold when you were born? I'm glad you came. I am happy your name is Jesus.

Dear Angel,

Do you like to fly?

Dear Jesus,

I hope you are having a fun time in heaven. Was it cool in the manger?

Dear Jesus,

Is it itchy sleeping in hay?

Dear Jesus,

Were you born on Christmas? Where do you live? Are you a human? Do you have teeth? Is there gravity where you live?

P.S. I live on Earth.

Dear Joseph,

Was it scary with a pregnant wife?

Dear Wise Men,

Do you have an X-Box 360?

A Lesson in the Classics

Before you read the rest of this post, if you don't know who Caillou is, familiarize yourself with him here.

On Thursday, the following conversation took place:

Jack: Mommy, can we watch the Caillou movie with that Snoopy dog?
Mommy: What movie?
Jack: Caillou
Mommy: Who?
Jack: CAILLOU!
Mommy: Have we watched it before?
Jack: Yes. With Nanna and Papa and you and me and Daddy.
Mommy: Was it the other night? On the computer?
Jack: Yes
Mommy: Jack, that wasn't Caillou. That was Charlie Brown.

Oh, Those Contractions

Sean was looking at apps for his soon-to-be new phone and the following conversation took place:

Sean: Huh. Contraction timer.
Me: What?
Sean: Contraction timer. You know, to time contractions.
Me: blank stare as I try to process the purpose of this

With as many times in the last three years that we've timed contractions, you'd think I'd catch on quickly here. Sadly, this was not the case. As I continued to think about the usefulness of this application I wondered if the purpose was to determine the amount of time saved by saying "can't" instead of can not or "don't" instead of "do not." You know, contractions.

Jack-A-Roo, Happy Birthday to You

Where or where have the last four years gone? I remember vividly the day we found out Jack would be joining our family. I made Sean double check the pregnancy test to ensure my hopeful heart wasn't playing tricks on my eyes. Once confirmed, the day went on as normal. What else could we do?

And I remember the long-anticipated day that Jack entered the world four years ago.

In that time Jack has grown from a happy, inquisitive baby into a smart, tender-hearted, silly little boy who loves to read books, play construction, build fire stations with legos and show us how independent he is.

He's a wonderful big brother to his little brother and sister, providing a great example for them to look up to.

He's creative and funny. He's immensely patient and ever forgiving as we stumble through this adventure called parenting.

He is an incredible blessing and we're ever so happy, grateful and humbled that God entrusted him to us. Happy birthday, Jack. We love you very much.

"Doo"-Year-Old-Logic

The magna doodle is a popular (read "often fought over") toy in our house. A few days ago Wesley was drawing on it and toddled into the kitchen saying, "bee, bee." I commended his bee and asked if it was the letter "bee" or the bug. He looked at me intently for 10 seconds (a lifetime to a 2-year-old) and said, "bee." So...which was it? I don't know, but he was proud of his "bee" and that's all the really matters.

Stopping by? Put on your sun goggles...

(and by sun goggles I mean those tiny plastic eye covers you're required to wear in a tanning bed so you don't burn your eyes out) because you're going to need to protect your retinas if you drive by at night.

To aleviate any confusion, this is NOT our house. That might actually be bearable...embarrassing, but bearable. No, the picture below is of the seizure-inducing house across the street from us that we see each and every time we dare look out our front window or door. We noticed the owners last weekend putting Christmas lights on their newly planted maple (the same one 12 - no I'm not exaggerating - other houses got one day in October; gotta love new construction) and thought it would look great since they spent so much time on it. Now we know why it took so long. They wrapped every single teeny tiny branch in those electric blue lights. You know, the ones that are impossible to focus on. Unfortunatley (or maybe it's not so unfortunate) the picture doesn't do it justice. If you're really curious you can drive by (make sure you stop to say "hello" since you're in the neighborhood and all), but don't say I didn't warn you.