Tenatious Thobe

Thobe is so much fun right now. We never know quite what he's going to say or do. We can usually guess that he'll say or do something that has to do with the Buckeyes, the Cougars, or the Rockets. He is such a sports fan. He loves it! When my parents came to visit, they brought Thobe another BYU shirt. He couldn't be happier. He'll wear it and wear it and wear it and then cries when we won't let him wear it for three days in a row, and he has to take it off. His only consolation is that he can wear a Buckeye, Rockets, or Mudhens shirt. He's a nut. While he has an affinity for the above mentioned sports teams, he also strongly dislikes the Bats, the Yankees, the Utes, and most of all the Wolverines and the Skies. As most of you know, the Wolverines are from Michigan and are the rivals of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Skies, however, are the worst team of all. They are the team that Thobe has created that are even worse than the Wolverines. Their colors are gray and white, and they are very, very bad. Thobe even cheers for the Wolverines over the Skies. The other day, after Thobe was recovering from a cold and had just made a mess in his night-night pants, I noticed that he had a stuffy nose. I said, "Oh Thobe, you have a buger in your nose."

"Yes," Thobe responded. "The Wolverines put that buger in my nose."

I laughed out loud and began changing his pull-ups that he wore that night. I said, "Oh Thobe, you've got poop in your night night pants!"

"Oh yeah," he said. "The Skies put that poop on my bum."

What a crazy boy! He spends much of his day hitting a baseball or lining his dinosaurs up to play football. He also loves to go outside and play basketball with his basketball hoop and ball. He really is a good little shooter and has started dribbling a basketball too (something that I think is pretty remarkable considering that he's only 3). He also loves cats and often pretends that he is actually a cat. I think he's so cute when he talks in his little kitty voice and meows throughout the house. He makes me laugh. He also loves doing Joy School with his friends Annie and Eliza Talbot. They have a lot of fun together. We also signed Thobe up for a gymnastics class and a baseball class at the YMCA. He's enjoyed both classes a lot.

For most of his life, Thobe has been a huge Mommy's boy. A year or so ago he told me that I was his mom and that Michael is Alden's dad. Michael didn't like that comment so much. Lately, however, this has changed. He is really a daddy's boy. Both he and Hyrum cry and cry when Michael leaves for work (I promise I don't beat them while he's gone). The other night we were trying to get Thobe to bed. Michael was watching a game, so I told him that I would take Thobe up to bed. Thobe wrapped his arms around Michael's neck and said that he wanted his Papi. I said to Thobe, "Thobe, I love you so much. Don't you love me too?"

He looked at me in all seriousness and announced, "I love my daddy a lot, and I love you a little bit."

He often misses Alden while he's at school. A week or so ago, we went to Alden's school to walk around the track with Alden and his class. We had a great time seeing the kids from his class and spending time with Alden. When we left and Alden went back to his classroom, Thobe was heartbroken. He cried and cried and cried. "I want my friend Alden! I want my friend Alden." When he settled down, he told me, "I have one friend, Mom. His name is Daddy. I want my Daddy friend." He also is very protective of Hyrum. I can tell that he loves him very much too.

Despite these types of statements, I know that Thobe loves me too. Ever since Mother's Day he comes up to me and says, "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy. I love you so much." He is such a sweet boy. I'm so grateful to be his mommy.

It's weird to look at this picture and see a glimpse of myself. Thobe has the Thomas tongue just like his momma.