Do you hear what I hear?

One of my favorite parts of being a mommy is watching and listening to the kids from afar. I love being with them too but it's fun to see how they behave when they think you're not around and to hear what they have to say to other people.

A few nights ago Mike had the chore (I mean privilege) of getting Jake ready for bed. They were in the playroom and Jake was throwing a good sized fit. I sat in the living room listening to our boy tell his daddy that he only wanted his mama to get him dressed and put him to bed. Mike asked him why he didn't want daddy to do it and he said because "mama my best friend!" While it disappointed me that he was being so ugly to his daddy, I have to admit there was a part of me sitting on the couch thinking "Yeah! I'm his best friend right now!"

This, however, turns out to be a short lived title. The next morning when he woke up the first thing he told me was that his stuffed penguin was his best friend. Oh, well. I'll take what I can get when I can get it. I'm sure it won't be long before he's following Mike around telling him that he's his best friend and I'll be sitting there going "yeah, but who gave birth to you?!" while I drown my sorrows in mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I've also heard him recently telling stories that I make up for him to his toys. He embellishes them with his own little details and makes them his own stories. I love this! It's wonderful seeing your child's imagination grow. Now, if only we could see his compassion for animals grow. As much as he loves dolphins and penguins right now, I'm amazed at how mean he can be to his own puppy and kitty. Poor Zoe thinks she's a soccer ball right now.

In an ongoing effort to teach him to be amazed by all of God's creations, this morning I pointed out a beautiful Monarch butterfly to him at the park. He came over, got down on his hands and knees and we talked about how pretty the butterfly was. When he tried to touch it I told him not to because they're so fragile that touching them can make them not able to fly. I thought he was really understanding all of this and loving it every bit as much as I was. Until he got up, picked up one foot and stomped on that butterfly as hard as he possibly could.

Looks like we still have some work to do. Mike told me that he actually saw the butterfly fly off at the last second and since I couldn't find a body I believe him. Now, if only we could get the cat some wings to escape his "affection" we might be okay.