normiej

[normiej]

You are 5

You are 5, and you are obsessed with all things penis, butts, buttcheeks, poop, pee, and so on. Mom says this stage may last a couple years. Awesome.

Well, you have also always had a healthy obsession with biology - germs/bacteria, how the body works, rotten teeth, bones, etc. We have a few books about the body, and you routinely want to read those in place of a more typical bedtime story.

Recently, you’ve been more and more curious about how babies are made. You’ve had a snippet here and there, like men have sperm, and women have eggs, and it takes both of them to make a baby. We also talk about private parts a lot, because if you had your way, you’d be mooning everyone and streaking in public on the regular. You’re very accepting of keeping the exposure of private parts to the privacy of your own home though.

A few days ago, you were talking about babies again, and this time you asked me HOW the sperm gets to the egg. Aha. Critical thinking. So I explained that mommy and daddy’s bodies fit together like puzzle pieces. This prompted a very quizzical look from you, and a further “…but how?”. So here you go - birds and bees explained in our kitchen at age 5.4 years old: Daddy’s penis fits into Mommy’s vagina.

The look on your face was so hysterical. If only I could’ve had a camera on you at that exact moment. Your eyes got huge. You made the funniest expression with your mouth. Like part humor, part disbelief, part ewww, part “I can’t picture this”. I was trying so hard not to laugh about all this. Then you said “THAT’S NOT PRIVATE AT ALL!”

You’re right. It’s not.  

[normiej]

You are 4.

Right around the time you turned 4, the teachers at your school started telling me that you were beginning to play with a little girl named Khloe a lot.

So I asked you about your friends at school one day, interested to hear what you would tell me. You’ve always been an articulate little guy, but I wasn’t really expecting this.

Our conversation went something like this:

Normie, tell me about your friends at school; who have you been playing with lately?

Well, I was playing with Calvin all the time. He’s my best friend. But then one day, I got distracted.

You got distracted?

Yes mommy. (dreamy sigh) I got distracted by a nice little girl that I wanted to play with. Her name is Khloe. I love her, mommy. But now Khloe and Calvin and I all play together.

Obviously my heart was completely melted by this. Since then, you and Khloe have had quite the year playing together. Calvin is still your buddy, along with a couple of other friends, but you are basically head over heels for Khloe.

It used to be that you only wanted to marry me. Ever since you were about 2. I explained that I was already married to daddy, which broke your heart so visibly, it broke mine, too. I wasn’t ready to deal with that, so I backtracked and put some parameters around marriage. I made sure you knew that only grownups are allowed to get married to each other, which you accepted (thank God), then told you that if you still want to marry me when you’re a grown up, then we can get married. We’ve discussed this a good many times in the last couple of years, and you’re fairly rulesy, so the plan has been holding up.

However, in the last month or so, you told me that you have changed your mind about marrying me, and now you want marry Khloe when you grow up. I asked you what you love about Khloe, and you said, “she has a pretty name and pretty hair, and she loves Kung Fu.” Obviously the criteria is all there.

[normiej]

One of Normie’s Comments today

Your Amma sometimes sends me emails about what you two do together on Wednesdays. This one is from last week, just after our cat Phoebe died:

“Normie :  Phoebe went to the other place.

What do you think of that?  

 I don’t want to die.  I don’t want my family to die.

What do you want Normie? 

I want to be free!   

He says other cool things but I’m never in the place to write them down and then I forget it.  We went to the beach and on the way back he ran the whole length of the gravel road, stopped at the pavement and waited for me.  He always holds my hand which I love and appreciate.  He ate a carrot, 1.5 sausages, 1.5 apples, a lot of blueberries and a waffle for lunch.  At the beach after nap he had a big muffin while sitting on my lap and watching people.”

[normiej]

The next place.

It's pretty amazing how you process death. You still talk about Grover a year after he passed, and I wasn't sure how different things would be today. Age 3 is a pretty different thing from age 2, after all. I had to have Phoebe put to sleep today. She wasn't quite 17 yet. When I got home you were there with Daddy, just back from daycare. You sat in my lap, and I reminded you about saying goodbye to Phoebe at the door this morning. Then I told you Phoebe died today, and she's in the next place now. Immediately you looked a little sad and said, "Oh. ...But Junior is still here?" Yes. "But he will die someday?" Yep, someday. "And Gordy will die someday?" Yeah, someday. But he's still young. You put your hands up and cocked your head. "Then we will be all out of pets." I looked at your dad, about to say something, but then you filled it right in: "oh! But then we will go to the animal shelter and get some more pets." I guess that takes care of that. But then you asked about us. You were wondering what you would do if we were gone and you were all alone with Gordy. Oh, kid. You are great at discussion. I didn't want to get too detailed, lest it lead to promises that are beyond my control. We assured you that you'll probably be a grown up before we go to the next place. Guess we better form a good emergency plan. I am amazed by you every single day. ❤️

[normiej]

“I’m the kid who’s not gonna nap today, mommy. Thwee year olds don’t take naps anymore.” Who boy. #howthreeyearoldsdo

[normiej]

90+ degrees outside… Think I’ll put on my long sleeved fleece bee costume. 😂 #lovethiskid #pollinatorsrule #howthreeyearoldsdo

[normiej]

Well I missed taking a photo with dad, but got this one. Isn’t this basically a scene in 90210? #howthreeyearoldsdo #happyfathersday (at Gluek Riverside Park)

[normiej]

Normie likes to play on the bed, get tickled a lot and talk - about everything. I asked him how to do a yoga pose and he showed me.  I said, maybe you will be a yoga teacher someday.  Doing a pose was his response.  Then I said, Momma is a yoga teacher and he said, No! she's my mommy!

We went to the zoo and bought a juice he picked out.  Then he didn't want it but wanted a fruit cup they had on display.  Roger said no, we aren't going to buy it since you aren't drinking the juice, plus we don't know what's in the food here.  He looked at us like he really understood, made a comment about making food with Mom, then drank his juice.  He also whizzed under the shelter of 3 big pine trees saying, Gordy does this! 

Normie loves to learn, listen to music, paint and use markers and colored pencils, play in the sand, run and dance,  jump in pillows, play with puzzles, read books, watch videos, and explore new places.  It's all about showing and giving love, eating organic food, education on all kinds of things, experiencing life, hugging Zebra girl and snuggling with blankie.    And lots of talking about shows, kids, school, Dad, Mom, home, neighbors, chickens, music, etc.   His world is contained but it's expanding all the time. He has a lot of confidence and yet tests his limits constantly.  What will he do next?  What's he thinking about?

~Amma (gramma)

[normiej]

Preschool Artist Musings at Bedtime.

You were peeing at your potty during bedtime tonight, deep in thought. You turned your little bare butt around, put your hands on the bathroom counter, looked at me, and said : "I want to move to Moscow to be a painter." Well. This is not entirely unprecedented, as you've had a pretty major obsession with a book about Vasya Kandinsky lately, and I can't seem to keep enough paint or paper around the house for your burgeoning profession as multimedia artist (favorite media recently has been a mix of watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, ballpoint pen, and cars driven through finger paints... with heavy emphasis on watercolors). However, I can't say I was expecting those particular words to come out of your mouth. So, I said that would be pretty cool, and I would like to go to Moscow someday too. I also explained that when you're three, you live with mom and dad. But when you're grown up, you can make the decision to move if you want to. In the meantime, you can practice painting and hone your craft for all the years you live with us. After listening intently, you simply said "Ok mommy". We brushed your teeth and got you in bed. I imagine you're having colorful dreams about abstract art.

[normiej]

You put your own shirt and pants on, all.by.yourself. 

Thus, we have  “The Pants Dance”. To Rage.

The dancing is SO great at age 3.

[normiej]

Let's Cruise

Tonight I was laying down with you at bedtime, thinking you were starting to feel nice and sleepy...when you popped up, telling me you're hungry. You're 3, so you do this sometimes when you aren't actually hungry, but just don't want to go to bed. So I said no, it's not time for eating anymore, time for sleeping. Generally this works pretty well, but it happened over and over, with more urgency, so I finally figured it was the real deal this time. As we walked down the hall to the kitchen, you told me you wanted a "sammich" and toast. I quickly assembled a pbj for you, with a carrot, and piece of banana. You ate, talking about how you will go 'wight back to bed' after. When it looked as though you were slowing down, I asked if you were done. You looked up at me with your cute big eyes and said "let's cruise". Ha - who knows where you picked that one up. You took my hand and walked back to bed, told me how very tired you were, how cozy and snugly your bed is, and fell asleep.

[normiej]

October 2015

Normie is 3 on Friday, the 23rd.  He's so much fun, loving, sweet, and sometimes silly.   He likes to get tickled, hide in the covers, play music, run, build with blocks and knock them down, play cars, do yoga (so cool!), and talk about all kinds of things.  He has a wonderful imagination.  He gives us wonderful hugs now and sometimes a kiss. He was here for an overnight and in the morning he hurried downstairs saying, "where's my grandpa"? over and over.  Grandpa was in the kitchen making NJ pancakes.  After breakfast we walked to the beach to throw rocks in the water.  When we started to leave he told us which direction was 'home'.   He holds both of our hands when walking and tells us about stuff.  He certainly belongs and is comfortable here.   Love, Gramma

[normiej]

“I’m dirty, Mama.” Sigh, spring.

[normiej]

Normie J.’s first Easter egg dying experience! The teal one started from a brown egg, turned out surprisingly cool.

[normiej]

Then and now.

[normiej]

3 generations. 😊 (at Waconia Brewing Company)

[normiej]

I’m hoping this joyful energy carries him throughout the day. First day of preschool! 😍