My Silly Yay-Hoos

My kids are so funny to me. I have such a fun time with them and love hearing all their silly stories. Alden recently told me that he wants to move to Mexico. Knowing how proud he is to be from the United States made me immediately ask him why.

"Well," he responded, "because Mexicans are so funny, Mom. They are always telling funny jokes."

"Humm," I said. I reminded him that although Mexico has good things about it, that many people in Mexico want to move to the United States because there are so many great things here. He gave me a "Whatever, Mom" look and walked away. I'm not sure why he thinks that. Michael often tells him funny jokes in Spanish. I guess I need to tell more jokes, so he'll not only think that America is the land of opportunity but also the land of funny people so that he'll want to stay here. Later that evening, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Lima, La Chareata. It is completely staffed by people who speak Spanish, so Alden loves to talk to everyone he can there in Spanish. It was so much fun to listen to the things he'd say. I must admit that I was really impressed. Our server asked him where he goes to school. In a perfect Spanish accent, he said, "Bath." He paused for a few seconds, and then said, "Bano." He also told her that he wanted gallina for dinner (in Spanish gallina is chicken the animal and pollo is the meat that you eat). He knows the difference, but for some reason, he got it in his mind that he wanted to eat chicken the animal rather than the meat. Our server got a big kick out of that.

Thobe has become so much more indepedent. He is doing such a great job getting dressed and taking care of his bathroom stuff. He occasionally runs into a few problems, as evidenced by this picture. Somehow, he got his body into the head hole and couldn't figure out how to pull it down. He came to me in tears, and being the good mom that I am, I started laughing. Fortunately, he was a good sport too, and after a few silly pictures, we got things situated. He is also such a momma's boy lately. I must admit that I secretly love it. I love it when he calls for me or when I hear him say, "I just want my mom." He loves to tell us that he loves us. I've written before about how Alden is not a fan a Thobe telling him he loves him. Tonight as we were eating dinner, Thobe was telling everyone at the table that he loved them. Michael said to me, loud enough for Alden to hear, "I sure wish Alden would tell Thobe that he loves him." Alden sat there for a minute, and then uttered rather quietly, "Thobe, I love you." Thobe's face lit up as bright as a 1000 watt light bulb. He said, "I love you, too, Alden! Now I want to give you a kiss." Immediately, both boys shot out of their seats and started running around the table. Thobe would intermittently stop to give Michael and me a little kiss and then he'd chase after Alden. We were all laughing really hard. I'm not sure why Alden is not affectionate to Thobe--he's very affectionate to Michael and me, but for some reason, he's decided that such affection is not appropriate for Thobe. They are very best friends though and play so well together. I love that, so I should count my blessings.

Hyrum is a little goof ball. The other night I threw Thobe in the bathtub before bed, changed Hyrum's diaper, and then went to get his pajamas. Seconds later, I heard quite a bit of yelling from Thobe and ran upstairs to see what was going on. Hyrum decided that he wanted a bath too, so not worrying about his clothing, he climbed into the tub with his brother. I couldn't help but laugh and laugh and laugh. He is such a happy, crazy character! Also last night we were watching the Ohio State game. Like always, the boys were super excited to watch their Buckeyes play. Alden and Thobe were climbing up on our church pew that we have in our basement and jumping off. Hyrum said, "I jump! I jump!" and stood on the edge of the bench ready to jump off. I told him that he was too little to jump off the bench. As if to say, "Oh yeah...well watch this," he lept off the bench and landed in a ball on the floor. He said, "Ouch," and then got back up to do it again. Alden is too much like his mom and didn't want to see him get hurt again, so he'd have him jump to him, and then put him down gently on the floor. They sure make me laugh.