They are awesome, but weird. I remember when Andrew was really young, like 8/9 months, Jim and I started to question if maybe there was something 'wrong' (for lack of a better word) with our son. He just did things that didn't make sense, or as my Grammie would have said 'O-D-D Odd!' He still does. More and more every day. He's weird. But weird for kids is almost normal because all kids are weird.
Recently, Andrew had the privilege of riding in one of those nifty shopping carts that has a car attached to the front. He was so excited to sit in there like a big boy and for about 5 minutes he did what you'd expect him to do: steer the steering wheel, honk the horn, try to grab things off of shelves, check things out from his new perspective... then at one point we looked at him and he was curled up in a ball on the seat with his back to us. Ooooooo kaaaaaay.... Then by the time we got to the check out, he was having little bursts of a shrieking noise that made everyone within 30 feet stop and stare. All we could do is roll our eyes and laugh. O-D-D Odd.
This morning, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He didn't answer. So I asked him if he wanted oatmeal or hot cereal. Blank stare. So I made oatmeal. He ate about 4 bites, then didn't touch it for about half and hour. I asked him if he was finished and he said, and I quote "All done." So I dumped it. 2 seconds later he told me he wanted more oatmeal. Andrew doesn't eat, especially fruits and veggies and we recently discovered that we can puree fruit, add it to his breakfast and he doesn't even notice. In fact a few times I think I actually heard an "Mmmmm" out of him! So anyway, because he doesn't usually ask for food, I clarified with him asking him if he was sure he wanted more oatmeal. "Yes, more oatmeal," he said. So I made him more oatmeal, adding the fruit, and as soon as I set it down (about a minute after he initially asked), he told me he didn't want anymore oatmeal. Grrr! So it sat on his little table untouched. Mid-morning, I asked him what he wanted for a snack. He told me he wanted toast so I made him some toast. I few minutes later, I was putting laundry away and he came running back to me with his toast ripped up into a thousand teeny tiny pieces in a bucket. That's what he wanted toast for??
There are also certain words that he uses that suddenly sound British, like boat, Daddy and remote. You have to hear it to get the full effect, but it's pretty weird.
Ainsley loves her pacifiers. She's had the ability to find her paci and put it her mouth basically since she entered the world. It's pretty impressive. So when we put her in her crib, she has a paci in her mouth and a couple more near her so when she loses one, chances are she'll find another and pop it back in her little mouth. This strategy has really come in handy. Well the other day, I put her down for her nap when she was almost asleep and was thoroughly entertained watching her in our video monitor (one of the greatest inventions ever!). For about 5 minutes, my daughter did this routine of sucking on one pacifier, while holding another in her hand. After a few seconds, she would spit the one in her mouth out and replace it with the one she was holding. Then she would grab the one she just spit out, spit out the one she just put in, and replace it with the new one... And this went on and on until she lost one. Wow. I was laughing out load.
More recently, now that Ainsley can sit up, stand and move around in her crib, she wiggles over to the side, pulls back the bumper and throws all of her pacifiers overboard one by one. Then sits there, crying and reaching for them. Poor baby. I can't feel that sorry for her because she's doing it to herself! I go in there, give her back all of her paci's and 3 minutes later they are all on the floor again!
It seems I have these moments every day... when all I can do is just blink my eyes at my kiddos and think 'are they for real?' but I appreciate those moments because of the joy and entertainment they provide me, even if it's not intentional! I just have to love my weird kids.
