Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Buddies

Watching The Goofy Movie with Zeus after preschool.


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Good-night, PJ

Caleb has never been huge into stuffed animals, but recently they've become more popular. I think this started this summer when he won an ugly stuffed cow at the state fair that he named Pomas. He's constantly reminding Pomas to mind his Ps & Qs and generally does a good job of parenting that inanimate bovine!

Recently the new found enthusiasm for stuffed animals has found its way to bedtime, where he is often joined by upwards of five different plush friends in his tiny, toddler-sized bed.
However, nothing pulls my heart strings quite like when he makes room for PJ.

Sleepy Time

 PJ has been my teddy bear since third grade and has been around the world with me. I still remember when my grandmother gave him to me. Perhaps at 8 years old I should have been on my way to outgrowing stuffed animals, but I knew PJ was special, and not just because he was a Heart to Heart Bear.  He was my buddy, my friend.

Growing up, my dad used to do this bit called Talking PJ Time, which came with its very own theme song. He would hold his hand behind PJ's neck and make him "talk." Of course we knew it was Dad talking, but we loved Talking PJ Time and would beg for it!

I'm tempted to speculate about PJ's place in my life at that time as I was quickly leaving childhood and heading for the scary pre-teen years. But to be honest, that feels a bit too serious for the affection I had for PJ. And the fact of the matter is, I've never been the most mature person and was a bit of a late bloomer in many ways.

Pop psychology aside, I just loved that bear. And still do. So to see Caleb cuddled up with the bear that held all my secrets brings a smile to my face. Good-night, Caleb. Good-night, PJ.

Sunday, January 08, 2012

I Have Wall Tracks

Caleb is at a funny age. He's hyper aware of his age now, and really wears it as a badge of coolness. At his preschool, the kids "sign in" by putting a laminated picture of themselves on a chart on the wall. And they will kick up some serious fuss if someone has already taken the number fours spot on the chart. Because FOUR is the COOLEST number, obviously!

While cars have always been cool with Caleb, suddenly he's convinced that none are cooler than Hot Wheels. He'll even flip a car over to show you the logo, like it's a Hallmark cards from about ten or so years ago! But you know what's even cooler than owning Hot Wheels? Having Hot Wheels Wall Tracks, of course!

"I have Wall Tracks."

Wall Tracks, for those of you who don't have kids this age, are attached to the wall using Command Strips that can be easily removed when the kid outgrows the toy or you move or whatever. It's a nice way to give him a race track that literally has no footprint in his room.

He's super proud of his Hot Wheels Wall Tracks he got for his birthday last year. In fact, if he introduces himself to you, he'll say, "I'm Caleb. I'm four. I have Hot Wheels Wall Tracks."

I'm always particularly amused when this is the beginning of his conversation with a girl. 'Cause I'm fairly sure most four year old girls don't care what kind of race tracks he has. But boy, he sure does think they make him a big deal!

Of course, I'm his mom. So I already think he's a pretty big deal!

Monday, January 02, 2012

Hello, 2012!

I'm pretty good at breaking resolutions, as I suspect most people are. So while the type A/box-checking side of me really wants to set a goal for blogging a certain number of posts a week or month, I'm going to refrain from setting myself up for failure. But I do want to commit to being a more consistent blogger this year. (Of course, that's a pretty low goal, considering I blogged less than 30 times in 2011. But, hey! Low standards are better than no standards...right?!)

We spent the last hours of 2011 with family, and that is a great way to ring in the new year, if you ask me. Caleb and his cousins ran the house and wore each other out, which was very convenient for us adults! All three kiddos were down by 9! Of course, we made sure they got in some minor firework fun before we sent them off to the land of quiet movie time.

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A year ago today, we boarded a plane in London Heathrow and said good-bye to our time in England. I've been thinking this week about what that means. When you've been somewhere a year, people stop asking, "Where did you come from?" After about a year, you've been somewhere long enough that your not-so-distant past becomes less relevant. You can't pull the New Kid Card anymore. And while you can't really say you are "from" your new location, your old location is used less and less to identify and classify you. The new location becomes more and more a part of the fabric of your every day life.

It's been a good year. I started a new job working for the Army, which has been a lot of fun! Tommy's kicking butt in the new avenue of his job. Caleb has learned to dress himself (finally!), and is learning to write his name. Zeus and Zoey survived the trans-Atlantic relocation, and Zeus recently discovered the trick to getting into the new kitchen trash can. (Drat!)  We bought a house!  And we survived one more move.

It's been a year of change, which was challenging at many times. As many times as I've moved as a military brat-turned military wife, I tend to think I can organize the chaos and stress out of the transition. Unfortunately, you can't do that. (Or at least I can't. Yet. But it won't stop me from trying next time!) But in spite of all the change this year, it was a good one.

Here's hoping 2012 will be even better! So from our family to yours, Happy New Year!

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