Gentleman in the Making

At lunch today, we celebrated the end of Fall Break with Chick-fil-A! Adam begged for a brownie, which is typically not part of our fast-food order, but I told him we could split one (being the special occasion!) He fussed about splitting it, but eventually obliged. After lunch, we split the brownie, which was delightful. As he examined his last bite, he looked at me with big blue eyes, smiled and said, "You can have the last bite if you want, mom."

He will make a special woman very happy one day! (Or he'll realize that chocolate covers all manners of sin!)

My Two Sons

This picture captures the exact personalities of my two sons during this season. Adam rambunctiously jousting with his lightsaber, and Micah sitting quietly in the chair reading a book.

Morning Conversations

Adam has always been an early riser. The other day, we were bragging about how Micah has had a few mornings where he's slept until 10:30! Adam replied, "Once, I woke up AFTER my mom and dad did!" Yes...once.

So, most mornings, around 6 or 6:30, I'll hear a thud (Adam jumping out of his bed), then his bedroom door creaking open, then our bedroom door creaking open, and if I keep my eyes shut, he'll go over to Robert's side of the bed and crawl into bed between us. Some mornings, I stay asleep (I really LOVE my sleep), and let Robert do the morning duties. Other mornings, I slowly open my eyes to find my little prince, two inches from my face, staring back at me while still sucking his thumb. (We're working on that, but what can I say, he'll only be small once!)

Two mornings a week, Robert is out of the house for meetings before this scenario takes place, so Adam just gets in bed with me until my eyes open. Today was one of these mornings and I was greeted with a "mom, I thought you had two heads!" I replied, "Really? Did that scare you?" To which he responded, "Of course not! I'm not scared of you." Of course.

Then he continued, "I had a dream last night. I went into my classroom and there was a big scary monster. Everyone was afraid. But I stabbed the monster's skin, and the whole class cheered for me!" (this conversation is even funnier if you remember that he cannot say his r's or l's!)

I'm afraid he has inherited my dream patterns of saving the world (or class) from disaster. I once saved the San Francisco Giants from a tsunami... I can't wait to hear about his other superhero adventures!

Date with Adam and the Nutcracker

During my first year teaching, a retiring Kindergarten teacher passed on a video she had of the New York City Ballet performing The Nutcracker. I had only seen The Nutcracker one time, a year earlier, when a gracious couple from our church invited Robert and I to see it. Neither of us knew the story well, and I'm embarrassed to say that we both ended up falling asleep during the second half. As a music teacher, though, I thought it would be nice to know the story and be able to teach it to my students, most of whom would probably never see it in the ballet.

After nine years of teaching, 8 Decembers included introducing first graders to the wonderful story of The Nutcracker. And I fell in love as a result. Tchaikovsky's music is the soundtrack of my holidays. So, you can imagine that I introduced Adam to the story as soon as I could. Last year, friends of mine who have connections to the Memphis Ballet, took Adam and me to The Nutcracker at the Orpheum. He was only 3, but he captured the magic of the story. His favorite part was the fighting scene when the Nutcracker kills the Mouse King. After seeing it, he requested to watch the video and would dance around the house like a toy soldier and play with my wooden nutcracker.

This year, my friend, Amber, again invited Adam and me to join her at the Orpheum. When it was time to get ready, I remember that friends from Colorado had sent some hand-me-down clothes, including a sports coat and clip-on tie. When I got it out of the back of his closet, he jumped up and down with excitement to wear it! We had to get a few poses of his Derek Zoolander impression.

Then, Micah wanted in on the action.

This time when we went to the Orpheum, we went to the late show and enjoyed some tasty treats. He sat in my lap most of the performance which made it fun for me to really see his expressions and enthusiasm for the story. As soon as the music for the fight scene began, he sat on the edge of my lap with his hands stretched out in anticipation. When the first mouse came on the stage, Adam began clapping uncontrollably. I had to remind him of audience manners a few times, because during the fight scene, he kept adding sound effects.

It was way past his bedtime and he did fall asleep on my shoulder about 20 minutes before it ended. But it will go on record as one of my most favorite mom and Adam memories. To top it off, Amber took us to the backstage door after the performance to meet some of the dancers. First, the Russian dancer came out to meet us, and then Adam recognized the plain-clothed Nutcracker himself! He ran over to him and shook his hand, then asked him how he became real after being a doll. It was the perfect ending to a perfect night.

The Tiny Brains Are Growing Bigger

When Adam was a baby, Robert and I would joke that he had "tiny brains" and no matter how fussy or difficult he was, we were smarter and bigger. We would compare his brain to our dog, Jack, watching for the day that Adam grew as smart as Jack. Then we watched as Adam became a little more smarter than Jack-dog. Then alot smarter than Jack-dog (which is about the point that Aunt Megan rescued Jack from our home and the little terrorizer who always cast Jack in the role of the dragon he was trying to slay. And yes, I have watched Marley and Me and felt a twinge of guilt at that part of the movie when they decided NOT to give away the dog!)

Well, in the last month, we've discovered that Adam's "tiny brains" are not so tiny anymore. We applied for him to enter the CLUE program in Memphis City Schools (the gifted education program) and he went through the IQ testing. He qualified and began the new CLUE preschool class yesterday at Downtown Elementary. His best friends, Walt and CJ, were already in the class and gave him a great welcome. He came home singing about continents. I said, "so you learned about continents today?" He gave me his puzzled look and asked, "How did you learn about continents before me?"

I know it won't be long before I'm wondering if his tiny brain has surpassed mine. I hope I treasure this time as much as you possibly can!

Adam, before Clue, standing at his growth chart. 43" tall today!

Adam with his buddies, CJ and Walt, after Clue.

Peabody Kindergarten 2010

We had a great dinner and discussion last night with about 6 families in Midtown who are considering sending their 4 year olds to Kindergarten at Peabody next fall. (2 more families couldn't attend, but have pretty much committed to Peabody.) Ms. Jones, the principal, and Ms. Malland, a Kindergarten teacher, both came to share information with parents and answer questions.

It was exciting for me to see these families and hear what their decision making process has been like. It is also interesting to hear the views of both newcomers to Memphis, and long-time Memphians or private educated versus public educated parents. Everyone comes to a discussion like this with such different backgrounds and different values. I love it and love the diversity of opinions it brings.

I think we will gather again in January after folks have had a chance to observe the Kindergarten classrooms and attend the Open House. Then we'll see what people are planning to do! There is definitely a lot of buzz about Peabody around Midtown now. I'm glad people are starting to consider it!

How Do I Love Thee, Adam

I love the way you play "fight" with me.

I love the way you do push-ups just like daddy.

I love the way you ask me questions about God.

I love the way you ask me questions I cannot answer, like "what is a subject?"

I love your curly hair.

I love how you love people so much.

I love that you love Fall and Christmas just as much as I do, and I have fun celebrating with you, even in July.

I love how you say "r" and "l" with a "w" sound. So the way you call your classmate, Riley, is "Wiwey."

I love how smitten you are with Sarah Ann and want her to be your princess.

I love how grown up you seem even though you are only 4 years old.

I love at bedtime, when you will tell me what time you plan to wake up in the morning. What you say always varies between 5:30 and 8:30 a.m. You never sleep until 8:30 a.m.

I love how you care for your little brother and make him laugh.

I love how you kiss his boo-boos to make it all better.

I love how, no matter what the weather is, you always say "It's a beautiful day to go to the park!"

I love when you look at your watch and say, "Mom, it's ten til fifteen. I think it's time for soccer."

Adam, you are a wonderful boy and I'm so blessed to be your mom.