He Keeps Me...

...terrified

I was taking pictures of the little man a few days ago, and he walked out into the hallway. It got quiet. Then, he started saying, "Cool! Cool! Cool!" I walked out in the hallway to see what was so cool.

An enormous, wriggling wolf spider that my son was picking up and poking.

Yep.

Not cool. Terrifying.

And, on top of the terror of the spider incident (which resulted in me screaming bloody murder, my heart rate slamming through the roof, and me kicking the devil out of that thing until my son stared blankly at me in shock and then collapsed in tears....mom stinks, she destroyed the "cool"), we now have yet another yucky creature that my son is obsessed with...

Yes, he learned about them in his animal book. There is very little stopping him (other than my husband's hopefully quick reflexes) from reaching out and trying to pluck one of those darn things out of the air.

...surprised

Two nights ago, we were sitting down to dinner. We held hands (actually, this involves us grabbing onto the toddler's forearms as he obliviously eats his food) and the hubbs said the prayer. Just as he said, "Amen," the toddler stopped what he was doing and shouted, "Amen!"

Blink. Blink.

Apparently, in his little Bible school, they are learning, "If you're happy and you know it say, 'Amen.'" Preciousness. Seriously. It made my entire night.

...laughing

Now, when I tell him, "It's time for your nap," he immediately replies with, "Night, night" (it sounds more like "nigh-nigh").

And when I rock him, and he's tired of rocking, he will look up and say, "Night, night."

Today, when we were in the library, he found a giant teddy bear, crawled into its lap (and after identifying its "eye," "bell" (belly), "nose," "eee-yur," "foo" (foot), and "knee"), put his hands behind his head, and screamed (yes, screamed in the dead-quiet library), "NIGHT, NIGHT! NIGHT, NIGHT! NIGHT, NIGHT!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing at how cute and hilarious he looked.

...on my toes

Today, I took little man to the library to pick out some Halloween books.

He was in heaven--seriously! His favorite thing in the world is reading, and he couldn't believe how many books were all around (and--yikers--within reach!). He ran to the bookshelves and started ripping out every book in front of him while I tried to frantically discipline him in a silent library. "No! No! Do not do that! That is a no no!" But, like most of my attempts to control my child in public, this one failed miserably.

What was I to do?

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I started just shoving those books right into the shelves--wherever I saw a gap. Those poor, poor librarians. I feel like I should go volunteer at the library or make a donation or something to make up for the time that it will take them to re-sort alllllllllllll of those books.

...from having to clean my floors

What a great son I have. Need proof? He cleans my floors. ;)

...in love

My little "Butch Cassidy" (as I constantly call him) is my gift from God! He makes my every day exciting and wonderful. The other night, he was sick, and so he came in our bed to sleep. He nuzzled right into me all night. I spent most of the early morning kissing his strawberry-blonde hair and listening to him breathe and make little noises.

The sounds of heaven.

He keeps my life in perspective. I want to be such a good mother to him, and I know that I will mess up along the way, but there is no way I could love that sweet, messy, spider-loving, book-ripping, tantrum-throwing boy any more than I do. "Oh, how He loves us so!" That is what I think every time I lay eyes on my gift from God. :)