On The Eve of Three

This time three years ago, I was in the first stages of labor (although I didn't know it) and Little Man would make his appearance in less than 24 hours. I remember those last few "normal" hours of being a family of two, before I started counting minutes between contractions, before the 5 AM drive to the hospital, before knowing that that day was actually THE day, and not another false alarm. Before the first time I set eyes on my son.

And then I blinked, and three years has passed in a flash.

Birthdays are a big deal to me. We have birthday weekends, birthday weeks, birthday events. This is the first year Little Man really understands the day, and we've been talking about it for several weeks.

"You have a birthday coming up. How old are you going to be?"

"Thirty five seventy three!" Said with great accomplishment.

"Are you sure?"

"No, that silly. Thirty five seventy three our house number! I be three on my birthday, Mommy."

"That's right. And what do you want for your birthday?"

"A balloon! Two balloons. And a steam train."

He does not want for much, so Husband and I can make his wishes come true this year. When he wakes up tomorrow, he will find balloons waiting for him, and when he unwraps his big birthday package he will find a big Lego train, which I have no doubt we will begin construction on immediately.

And as luck would have it, our city hosted the National Model Train Convention this very weekend. We spent a chunk of our time there yesterday, and will be returning tomorrow to let Little Man bask in the glory that is a huge exhibition hall full of model train layouts.

Next week we will have a party--not a big one as Little Man has an intimate circle of friends--but a party nontheless, with more balloons and a train cake. And then we'll begin our journey of being three, and seeing the world as only a three year old can.

I can't wait.

Rocking Chair DJ

These days, our nighttime routine goes bath, books, songs and snuggles. For months Little Man has requested the usual melodies: Old McDonald, The Farmer in the Dell, various Disney songs.

But lately Little Man has wanted a little more out of his songs. He wants originals.

It started out innocently enough when I sang about Farmer Goofy, instead of Old McDonald, after we read a book about Goofy. Little Man got a kick out of that and the next night when we'd finished our Dr. Suess and I launched into a lullaby version of The Farmer in the Dell, he covered my mouth with his hand.

"No, no," he said. "A song about Go, Dog, Go? A song about the mop the mop the mop?"

Since then, Little Man has been testing my improv skills every night. Pulling his favorite bits from his day and his stories, he requests songs about himself, his favorite trains, and the lines from books that make him laugh. I'm usually pretty good at creating them the first time around--but then when he asks me to sing them again and I don't get the words exactly right, he stops and makes me start again. And then the next morning, I hear him singing the songs I made up to himself while he plays.

It's a fun little way to end our way, and apparently it inspires Little Man to make up his own songs, too. The other morning Husband and I caught him singing, to the tune of Jingle Bells:

Jingle bells, jingle bells, choo choo all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a big steam train!

This was impressive for several reasons: one, I didn't make that song up. Two, I didn't even know he knew Jingle Bells. Three, he managed to make a pretty good rhyme.

Maybe Little Man has a future in music.

A Day Time Poem

It's not nighttime!
It is day!
Mommy! Daddy!
Time to play!
The moon is gone
The stars are too
It's daytime now
What should we do?

Maybe we'll go to some railroad tracks
And watch the trains go clickety-clack.
Watching trains is my favorite way
To spend a sunshiny day.

Maybe we'll visit the zoo today
And watch the animals climb and play.
Of course my favorite thing at the zoo
Is to see the train- there's one there, too!

Or maybe to the aquarium we'll go
To see the fish: red, green and yellow
If we go there, my dearest wish
Is to see the otters and starfish.

Or maybe we'll go to Gymboree
Where I can climb and jump, you see.
We raise the parachute high and low
And search all around for Baby Gymbo.

I really like the bookstore, too
Train table, Legos, there's lots to do
And if I'm very good, you see
I get to take a book home with me!

Some days, we don't get in the car
We stay home to play, don't travel far
I like to paint, and read and zoom
My cars and trains around the room.

And then the sun begins to sink
A good time for a bath, I think
My jammies on, my books are read
It's time to snuggle up in bed.

It's not daytime.
It is night.
Mommy! Daddy!
Snuggle me tight.
The sun is gone
The clouds are, too.
It's nighttime now
Sweet dreams, I love you.