Thursday, May 16, 2013
First Quarter
Tobias has been in our family for 3-months as of today. It's hard to believe we've had him for a quarter of a year already! He is doing so well and growing like a champ. He is very smiley and seems to be a bit of a David John clone. Here are some of my favorite T-Ricks pics from the past week or so:
Bucket List
We are slowly checking things off our Cleveland bucket list. Last Saturday, Marc and I conquered lunch at Saffron Patch and then an afternoon hiking in Holden Arboretum. This outing was my fabulous Mother's Day gift from Marc. Many thanks to Joey Tate for wrangling our other boys while we were hitting the town.
The buffet at Saffron Patch was delicious, it was unfair that I was only able to eat two plates before being full. Marc and I both found that the vegetarian dishes were our favorites. I need these recipes. Somehow I don't think I'll be finding as much fabulous ethnic food in ND.
It was chilly and overcast when we got to Holden, perfect hiking weather. The first plant collection we saw was the "Arthur S. Holden Hedge Collection". For some reason this really cracked us up. I guess it just seems a bit boring to have a collection of hedgerows named after you. Too bad I didn't have a wide enough lens to get a good shot of the wide variety of hedgerows. It looked like a landscaping catalog brought to life.
This was my favorite tree- a weeping beech. It formed a natural shelter. Best hideaway ever.
Lilacs are Marc's favorite. They smelled heavenly. He wouldn't mind this collection being named after him.
I was fascinated by huge lengths of cut bamboo laid out on one of the lawns. I'm not sure what they were doing with it, but I'd never seen such thick and tall stands of bamboo. Just beautiful.
I am already mourning the loss of the intensely green springs we have here in Ohio. I know it won't quite be the same when we move. I'll have to come back for visits in the spring just to drink in the vibrant colors.
We loved watching this redwinged blackbird. I never got a good shot where you could see the beautiful coloration on his wings, but I liked this silhouette against the overcast sky.
The crabapples were glorious.
I'm also going to miss Ohio's state bird: the cardinal.
We followed this cute goose and gander who apparently liked the hiking trails and were leaving lots of little surprises that we had to carefully step over. They seemed like an affectionate old couple. The gander had a bit of a limp and a rumpled tail feather. We enjoyed watching them waddle around.
A flowering Buckeye tree. I don't think I'd ever noticed how pretty they are in the spring.
So happy with my Mother's Day gift.
It was too cold for the butterflies to be out and about in the butterfly garden but I loved seeing the charming ironwork on the garden gate.
I'll be posting more pics of our bucket list activities. Have I mentioned how much we have loved Cleveland? If you've never been, it should be on your bucket list.
The buffet at Saffron Patch was delicious, it was unfair that I was only able to eat two plates before being full. Marc and I both found that the vegetarian dishes were our favorites. I need these recipes. Somehow I don't think I'll be finding as much fabulous ethnic food in ND.
It was chilly and overcast when we got to Holden, perfect hiking weather. The first plant collection we saw was the "Arthur S. Holden Hedge Collection". For some reason this really cracked us up. I guess it just seems a bit boring to have a collection of hedgerows named after you. Too bad I didn't have a wide enough lens to get a good shot of the wide variety of hedgerows. It looked like a landscaping catalog brought to life.
This was my favorite tree- a weeping beech. It formed a natural shelter. Best hideaway ever.
Lilacs are Marc's favorite. They smelled heavenly. He wouldn't mind this collection being named after him.
I was fascinated by huge lengths of cut bamboo laid out on one of the lawns. I'm not sure what they were doing with it, but I'd never seen such thick and tall stands of bamboo. Just beautiful.
I am already mourning the loss of the intensely green springs we have here in Ohio. I know it won't quite be the same when we move. I'll have to come back for visits in the spring just to drink in the vibrant colors.
We loved watching this redwinged blackbird. I never got a good shot where you could see the beautiful coloration on his wings, but I liked this silhouette against the overcast sky.
The crabapples were glorious.
I'm also going to miss Ohio's state bird: the cardinal.
We followed this cute goose and gander who apparently liked the hiking trails and were leaving lots of little surprises that we had to carefully step over. They seemed like an affectionate old couple. The gander had a bit of a limp and a rumpled tail feather. We enjoyed watching them waddle around.
A flowering Buckeye tree. I don't think I'd ever noticed how pretty they are in the spring.
So happy with my Mother's Day gift.
It was too cold for the butterflies to be out and about in the butterfly garden but I loved seeing the charming ironwork on the garden gate.
I'll be posting more pics of our bucket list activities. Have I mentioned how much we have loved Cleveland? If you've never been, it should be on your bucket list.
Take This Job and Fill It!
Now that Mother's Day is over and I have had my good sentimental cry about how my babies are growing up so fast, I thought I should write about the tough parts of the job. It is therapeutic to think about the hard days and appreciate that while it is sad that these early years are so fleeting, having grown-up children will have its perks. For one, maybe my children will stop trying to fire me. This has been a problem of late. All of them, at one time or another, have expressed a wish that someone else would be their mommy when I have made a decision that they didn't like. However, in the last month or so I have been getting "fired" almost on a daily basis and for minor infractions, i.e. "I don't want oatmeal! If you don't make pancakes for breakfast, then you're fired!"
I don't get emotionally involved when my children say things like this. I know they don't truly mean it, although I confess that I was a little hurt when my 3-year-old suggested that I could be replaced by an apple. On rough days, though, my eyes glaze over and I imagine myself dramatically striding out of the house and calling over my shoulder, "You can't fire me! I quit!" then slamming the door in a most satisfying way. I'm sure the severance package wouldn't be that great, since usually they give you a percentage of your pay and any percentage of zero is, disappointingly, still zero. I could apply for unemployment benefits and get a raise! Heck, I could take a vacation!
Even in those small moments when I really want to throw my hands up and throw in the towel, I know I can't really quit. I jokingly told my mom on the phone one day, "That's it. I surrender. Raise the white flag. I quit." A minute later, my 2-year-old tried to get something off of the mantle that he wasn't allowed to have. Before I could react, one of my 5-year-olds tackled him to the ground. "Why did you do that?!?" I exclaimed, "You don't use your body like that!" He looked at me calmly and explained that since I had "quit" he had to take matters into his own hands. So I now know, if I ever really quit, my 5-year-old twins will instate martial law. It won't be pretty.
Even though I'll not be resigning my position, I thought it might be prudent to make up a questionnaire to screen applicants for my job should I ever truly be fired and they need to hire a new mom. So, here it is. All situations described are real. Even if you don't want my job, if you have good ideas about how to respond to some of these situations, I'd love to hear them.
Application for Mom Position in the Ricks Family
Please answer all questions honestly and completely.
1. Can you tolerate large quantities of spit-up aka baby vomit on your clothing? Specifically, can you tolerate spit-up in the front of your shirt, down your back, on various areas of your pants including areas which make it look like you didn't make it to the bathroom in time? Can you tolerate spit-up on your blouse, skirt, sweater and the jacket you weren't even wearing at the time, but the spit up cascaded down your skirt and onto the jacket which was laid on top of the car seat carrier? Furthermore, how do you feel about spit-up being projected over your shoulder and onto your clean and folded pile of laundry?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, please don't bother filling out the rest of this application.
2. You are alone at a church function taking place in the chapel. All of your children seem to need some attention. The baby just pooped in his diaper. The 2-year-old is climbing over pews like an olympic hurdler. The 3-year-old is doing a headstand on the bench and kicking his feet wildly in the air in hopes that one or both of his cowboy boots will come flying off and possibly beam someone in the head. One of the 5-year-olds is trying to be good by looking at an I-Spy book, but is practically shouting at you to tell him what he needs to find next. His twin has been stealthily climbing underneath the pews and collecting the hymnals from several rows. He is now constructing a large and rather impressive edifice with them. It is taller than the back of the pew and occasionally a book slips and loud thumps ensue. How do you triage this situation? Which child do you attend to first?
3. Your children have requested Ramen Noodles for dinner. You are exhausted and your husband is working overnight so you gladly acquiesce. After everyone is seated with their dinner, you make a badly needed run to the restroom. Upon your return, you notice that the portion of Ramen Noodles that was still in the pot is now strewn in an artistic arc across the kitchen floor. Four of your children are now standing on the kitchen table. They have turned the ceiling fan on. They are throwing handfuls of noodles at the spinning fan with interesting results. Please describe which anger-management techniques you will be using. Also, outline a discipline plan. Remember, no two children can be placed in the same room for time out. That just leads to all of the furniture in the room being relocated in front of the bedroom door and all of the clothes being dumped out of dressers. You may have to climb in a window to gain access to the room.
4. Please attach a report from your doctor stating that your are able to react quickly and run fast. Specifically, can you, upon witnessing that your two-year-old has climbed the fence and has escaped the backyard, put down the baby you are breastfeeding, arrange your clothing so as not be charged with public indecency, locate a pair of shoes and sprint outside to intercept your toddler before he reaches the street?
5. Are you able to continue doing your job in the face of extreme criticism and unpopularity? Tell us about a time when you had to mete out some consequences that were not well received but you persevered. I.E. the time one of your twins spit water all over his brother's pants so you made them switch pants or the time that one twin severely scratched the other so you drew on the offender's face with red marker when the perpetrator insisted that the scratches "weren't hurting anymore" so it wasn't a big deal.
6. Essay
Please describe your experiences with crowd control and your understanding of mob psychology Allow these experiences to inform your answer to the second part of the essay: What would you do if three boys, upon a predetermined signal, ran in three different directions in the library, began climbing shelves and throwing the shelved books on the floor? Please keep in mind you are carrying a baby in one arm at the time and are foolishly without a stroller.
I hope we get a lot of applications. I will probably get fired again tomorrow and I want to have my replacement all lined up. Like I said, it's a tough job. Sometimes I want to quit, but the remuneration, paid in smiles, hugs and chubby hands holding yours, is hard to beat.
I don't get emotionally involved when my children say things like this. I know they don't truly mean it, although I confess that I was a little hurt when my 3-year-old suggested that I could be replaced by an apple. On rough days, though, my eyes glaze over and I imagine myself dramatically striding out of the house and calling over my shoulder, "You can't fire me! I quit!" then slamming the door in a most satisfying way. I'm sure the severance package wouldn't be that great, since usually they give you a percentage of your pay and any percentage of zero is, disappointingly, still zero. I could apply for unemployment benefits and get a raise! Heck, I could take a vacation!
Even in those small moments when I really want to throw my hands up and throw in the towel, I know I can't really quit. I jokingly told my mom on the phone one day, "That's it. I surrender. Raise the white flag. I quit." A minute later, my 2-year-old tried to get something off of the mantle that he wasn't allowed to have. Before I could react, one of my 5-year-olds tackled him to the ground. "Why did you do that?!?" I exclaimed, "You don't use your body like that!" He looked at me calmly and explained that since I had "quit" he had to take matters into his own hands. So I now know, if I ever really quit, my 5-year-old twins will instate martial law. It won't be pretty.
Even though I'll not be resigning my position, I thought it might be prudent to make up a questionnaire to screen applicants for my job should I ever truly be fired and they need to hire a new mom. So, here it is. All situations described are real. Even if you don't want my job, if you have good ideas about how to respond to some of these situations, I'd love to hear them.
Application for Mom Position in the Ricks Family
Please answer all questions honestly and completely.
1. Can you tolerate large quantities of spit-up aka baby vomit on your clothing? Specifically, can you tolerate spit-up in the front of your shirt, down your back, on various areas of your pants including areas which make it look like you didn't make it to the bathroom in time? Can you tolerate spit-up on your blouse, skirt, sweater and the jacket you weren't even wearing at the time, but the spit up cascaded down your skirt and onto the jacket which was laid on top of the car seat carrier? Furthermore, how do you feel about spit-up being projected over your shoulder and onto your clean and folded pile of laundry?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, please don't bother filling out the rest of this application.
2. You are alone at a church function taking place in the chapel. All of your children seem to need some attention. The baby just pooped in his diaper. The 2-year-old is climbing over pews like an olympic hurdler. The 3-year-old is doing a headstand on the bench and kicking his feet wildly in the air in hopes that one or both of his cowboy boots will come flying off and possibly beam someone in the head. One of the 5-year-olds is trying to be good by looking at an I-Spy book, but is practically shouting at you to tell him what he needs to find next. His twin has been stealthily climbing underneath the pews and collecting the hymnals from several rows. He is now constructing a large and rather impressive edifice with them. It is taller than the back of the pew and occasionally a book slips and loud thumps ensue. How do you triage this situation? Which child do you attend to first?
3. Your children have requested Ramen Noodles for dinner. You are exhausted and your husband is working overnight so you gladly acquiesce. After everyone is seated with their dinner, you make a badly needed run to the restroom. Upon your return, you notice that the portion of Ramen Noodles that was still in the pot is now strewn in an artistic arc across the kitchen floor. Four of your children are now standing on the kitchen table. They have turned the ceiling fan on. They are throwing handfuls of noodles at the spinning fan with interesting results. Please describe which anger-management techniques you will be using. Also, outline a discipline plan. Remember, no two children can be placed in the same room for time out. That just leads to all of the furniture in the room being relocated in front of the bedroom door and all of the clothes being dumped out of dressers. You may have to climb in a window to gain access to the room.
4. Please attach a report from your doctor stating that your are able to react quickly and run fast. Specifically, can you, upon witnessing that your two-year-old has climbed the fence and has escaped the backyard, put down the baby you are breastfeeding, arrange your clothing so as not be charged with public indecency, locate a pair of shoes and sprint outside to intercept your toddler before he reaches the street?
5. Are you able to continue doing your job in the face of extreme criticism and unpopularity? Tell us about a time when you had to mete out some consequences that were not well received but you persevered. I.E. the time one of your twins spit water all over his brother's pants so you made them switch pants or the time that one twin severely scratched the other so you drew on the offender's face with red marker when the perpetrator insisted that the scratches "weren't hurting anymore" so it wasn't a big deal.
6. Essay
Please describe your experiences with crowd control and your understanding of mob psychology Allow these experiences to inform your answer to the second part of the essay: What would you do if three boys, upon a predetermined signal, ran in three different directions in the library, began climbing shelves and throwing the shelved books on the floor? Please keep in mind you are carrying a baby in one arm at the time and are foolishly without a stroller.
I hope we get a lot of applications. I will probably get fired again tomorrow and I want to have my replacement all lined up. Like I said, it's a tough job. Sometimes I want to quit, but the remuneration, paid in smiles, hugs and chubby hands holding yours, is hard to beat.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day
Every Mother's Day is a reminder to me of just how blessed I am to be a mother. It is always bittersweet because I remember the years when Mother's Day was the hardest day of the year. I still feel some pangs of sadness as I think about the wonderful women I know who long to be mothers but are not yet or would like to be mothers again as they wait for more children to join their family. However, we got to celebrate a happy ending today with our neighbors on her first Mother's Day and attend the dedication of their baby boy at their church. I feel grateful for all the mothers in my life. I couldn't ask for a more amazing mother or a kinder mother-in-law. I am thankful for all my friends who are mothers and give me help and encouragement when my own mothering experience gets a little rough.
Yesterday, I asked my boys what it takes to be a mommy. Elijah said mommies are just born, but Gabriel said you have to be blessed and baptized before you can be a mommy. Elijah said, "What!?! You mean before they get blessed and baptized everyone is a boy?" I laughed and explained that everyone is born a boy or a girl but not all girls are mommies. Gabriel then added, "Yeah! Some of them are Aunts and Uncles and Grandmas." Oh dear, I can tell we have explaining to do about how families are made.
This morning, Gabriel and Elijah made me some beautiful Mother's Day pictures without any prompting from Marc. This is Gabriel's picture. I'm in the center, surrounded by happy faces and hearts. I like the sky which has a sunshine, clouds, rain and rainbows. Gabriel still draws me with a ponytail in all his pictures and keeps asking me when my hair is going to grow back. He likes my ponytail better.
Elijah's picture has a big rainbow with three flying butterflies and one butterfly perching on a flower. The garden includes roses and bluebells and pumpkins with happy faces. I just love it.
Here is our family at the Kirtland Temple last Sunday. I love all these boys, the big one and the 5 small ones. Some days are hard, but I love being a mother.
Yesterday, I asked my boys what it takes to be a mommy. Elijah said mommies are just born, but Gabriel said you have to be blessed and baptized before you can be a mommy. Elijah said, "What!?! You mean before they get blessed and baptized everyone is a boy?" I laughed and explained that everyone is born a boy or a girl but not all girls are mommies. Gabriel then added, "Yeah! Some of them are Aunts and Uncles and Grandmas." Oh dear, I can tell we have explaining to do about how families are made.
This morning, Gabriel and Elijah made me some beautiful Mother's Day pictures without any prompting from Marc. This is Gabriel's picture. I'm in the center, surrounded by happy faces and hearts. I like the sky which has a sunshine, clouds, rain and rainbows. Gabriel still draws me with a ponytail in all his pictures and keeps asking me when my hair is going to grow back. He likes my ponytail better.
Elijah's picture has a big rainbow with three flying butterflies and one butterfly perching on a flower. The garden includes roses and bluebells and pumpkins with happy faces. I just love it.
Here is our family at the Kirtland Temple last Sunday. I love all these boys, the big one and the 5 small ones. Some days are hard, but I love being a mother.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
May the 4th Be With You
We had a very happy Star Wars weekend, starting with dinner at Melt for Marc and me yesterday. Going to Melt again was on our Cleveland bucket-list and the force was certainly with us yesterday. Normally, a visit to Melt means parking a quarter mile away and waiting at least an hour for a table. Somehow, at 6:10 PM on a Friday night, we snagged a parking spot 20 feet from the door and were shown to a table as soon as we walked in. This was no normal visit. Normally, we would just order one entree and share it because they are gigantic, but we couldn't help salivating over both the monthly special and the limited edition 3-days-only Star Wars themed sandwich: The Wookiee Melt.
In case you can't read the sandwich description on the picture, it says:
Carmelized banana, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, sweet cream cheese, crispy battered and deep fried to a golden wookiee brown. Covered in rich chocolate and peanut butter glaze and covered in toasted coconut. Mixed berry preserves for dipping. No slaw. Double fries because it is a known fact that wookiees do not like cabbage.
Yeah, we ordered them both. We couldn't help it.
The Prime Time Melt with Au Jus was delicious.
The Wookiee Melt was amazing. Let's be honest- this was no sandwich. It was a decadent dessert.
We brought home a lot of leftovers. We bid a fond farewell to Melt, one of our Cleveland faves.
Before picking up the kids, we went to the Lego Store so Marc could drool over $400 Star Wars sets. Maybe someday....
The fun continued today. Marc and the 3 older boys all wore their Star Wars shirts and the boys played Star Wars trivia at breakfast. We also let them watch an episode of the animated series Clone Wars. This is a special treat, because watching Clone Wars tends to foster a mood for violent play among our boys. Benjamin and Tobias don't have shirts yet, but Marc plans to rectify the situation for future May the 4ths.
Finally, I wanted to share our vehicle decals since they are thematically related. These were a gift to all of the boys in our family at Christmas time and Marc put them on the cars in January. For the figures on the van, each child got to pick his own then they collectively selected the one for Tobias. From left to right that's Daddy-Han Solo, Mommy-Princess Leia, Gabriel the Jawa, Elijah the Padawan, David John the Ewok (or baby Chewbacca as he says it), Benjamin- Yoda and Tobias the droid.
The Camry features Daddy-Darth Vador, Mommy- Padme and 5 little storm troopers.
The boys adore these decals and all things Star Wars in general. They are already making plans for "Star Wars Day" next year. May the 4th be with you.
In case you can't read the sandwich description on the picture, it says:
Carmelized banana, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, sweet cream cheese, crispy battered and deep fried to a golden wookiee brown. Covered in rich chocolate and peanut butter glaze and covered in toasted coconut. Mixed berry preserves for dipping. No slaw. Double fries because it is a known fact that wookiees do not like cabbage.
Yeah, we ordered them both. We couldn't help it.
The Prime Time Melt with Au Jus was delicious.
The Wookiee Melt was amazing. Let's be honest- this was no sandwich. It was a decadent dessert.
We brought home a lot of leftovers. We bid a fond farewell to Melt, one of our Cleveland faves.
Before picking up the kids, we went to the Lego Store so Marc could drool over $400 Star Wars sets. Maybe someday....
The fun continued today. Marc and the 3 older boys all wore their Star Wars shirts and the boys played Star Wars trivia at breakfast. We also let them watch an episode of the animated series Clone Wars. This is a special treat, because watching Clone Wars tends to foster a mood for violent play among our boys. Benjamin and Tobias don't have shirts yet, but Marc plans to rectify the situation for future May the 4ths.
Finally, I wanted to share our vehicle decals since they are thematically related. These were a gift to all of the boys in our family at Christmas time and Marc put them on the cars in January. For the figures on the van, each child got to pick his own then they collectively selected the one for Tobias. From left to right that's Daddy-Han Solo, Mommy-Princess Leia, Gabriel the Jawa, Elijah the Padawan, David John the Ewok (or baby Chewbacca as he says it), Benjamin- Yoda and Tobias the droid.
The Camry features Daddy-Darth Vador, Mommy- Padme and 5 little storm troopers.
The boys adore these decals and all things Star Wars in general. They are already making plans for "Star Wars Day" next year. May the 4th be with you.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Wonderful World of Gabe
Gabriel has said a number of things this month that have made it clear that he sees reality in a very different way than I do. These are my three favorites:
Gabriel love babies and is pretty smitten with little Tobias. One day he was holding Tobias and decided to give the baby "lessons". "What's one plus one Tobias?" Tobias wiggled his little hand and left two fingers lingering a little bit longer than the others before curling up into a fist. "Mom! Did you see that! He knew the answer was two! Tobias, what is one plus one plus one?" Again, a little hand wiggle and this time three lingering fingers. "Wow! He got that one right too! Mom, I had no idea that babies could do math! He is so smart." At this point, Tobias started to coo, making "aaahhhh" and "ohhhh" sounds. Gabriel then exclaimed, "Did you hear him?!? He is already learning his letter sounds! Those are the sounds for A and O! Tobias can read!" I have a feeling that when Gabriel grows up and has a family he might be one of those parents who are convinced that their child is a genius. He certainly has a high opinion of Tobias.
As anyone who has visited our house can tell you, Gabriel is quite an adept climber. He likes to show off for guests by shimmying up the door jambs and then doing a spider climb in the door frame. He loves the monkey bars at the park. When we were there recently, Gabriel showed me how he can now do the high the monkey bars by climbing to the top of the small set and then jumping over to the higher ones. It was, admittedly, impressive. After I congratulated him on his climbing prowess he said, "I know! Where did I get these awesome monkey powers?!? It's like I drank some oil or something." I am a little concerned that he thinks drinking oil might give you super powers. Where did he get this idea? Did he think oil is what gave the Ninja Turtles their powers? Has he even seen an episode of Ninja Turtles? I don't know, but we may be locking the cabinet with the cooking oil and hiding the motor oil until we get it sorted out.
Speaking of super powers, Gabriel informed me that he already knows what he wants for Christmas this year. "Oh, really?" I said, "You don't think you might change your mind?"
"Nope. I know that I want a ball that gives me the power to fly and climb vertical walls."
At first, I wasn't sure how to respond. We talked for a while about how awesome it would be to get a gift like that. Then I asked, "But, do you think Santa even brings gifts like that? Do you think a ball like that even exists?"
With the faith of a child he replied, "Mom, Santa is magical so he can make magical things. Don't worry about it. Santa will bring the ball and we'll just have to try it out and see if it gives me powers or not. I think it will."
Since that conversation he has been talking with his brothers about the things he will do when he can fly. I also think he's added some powers to the list of abilities he'd like the ball to imbue him with. Most recently, he's decided that he would also like laser eyes. I fear it may be a disappointing Christmas. Hopefully, the imagination that dreamed up this "super ball" can also compensate for its deficiencies. Gabe's worldview may not be exactly accurate but is certainly more fun.
Gabriel love babies and is pretty smitten with little Tobias. One day he was holding Tobias and decided to give the baby "lessons". "What's one plus one Tobias?" Tobias wiggled his little hand and left two fingers lingering a little bit longer than the others before curling up into a fist. "Mom! Did you see that! He knew the answer was two! Tobias, what is one plus one plus one?" Again, a little hand wiggle and this time three lingering fingers. "Wow! He got that one right too! Mom, I had no idea that babies could do math! He is so smart." At this point, Tobias started to coo, making "aaahhhh" and "ohhhh" sounds. Gabriel then exclaimed, "Did you hear him?!? He is already learning his letter sounds! Those are the sounds for A and O! Tobias can read!" I have a feeling that when Gabriel grows up and has a family he might be one of those parents who are convinced that their child is a genius. He certainly has a high opinion of Tobias.
As anyone who has visited our house can tell you, Gabriel is quite an adept climber. He likes to show off for guests by shimmying up the door jambs and then doing a spider climb in the door frame. He loves the monkey bars at the park. When we were there recently, Gabriel showed me how he can now do the high the monkey bars by climbing to the top of the small set and then jumping over to the higher ones. It was, admittedly, impressive. After I congratulated him on his climbing prowess he said, "I know! Where did I get these awesome monkey powers?!? It's like I drank some oil or something." I am a little concerned that he thinks drinking oil might give you super powers. Where did he get this idea? Did he think oil is what gave the Ninja Turtles their powers? Has he even seen an episode of Ninja Turtles? I don't know, but we may be locking the cabinet with the cooking oil and hiding the motor oil until we get it sorted out.
Speaking of super powers, Gabriel informed me that he already knows what he wants for Christmas this year. "Oh, really?" I said, "You don't think you might change your mind?"
"Nope. I know that I want a ball that gives me the power to fly and climb vertical walls."
At first, I wasn't sure how to respond. We talked for a while about how awesome it would be to get a gift like that. Then I asked, "But, do you think Santa even brings gifts like that? Do you think a ball like that even exists?"
With the faith of a child he replied, "Mom, Santa is magical so he can make magical things. Don't worry about it. Santa will bring the ball and we'll just have to try it out and see if it gives me powers or not. I think it will."
Since that conversation he has been talking with his brothers about the things he will do when he can fly. I also think he's added some powers to the list of abilities he'd like the ball to imbue him with. Most recently, he's decided that he would also like laser eyes. I fear it may be a disappointing Christmas. Hopefully, the imagination that dreamed up this "super ball" can also compensate for its deficiencies. Gabe's worldview may not be exactly accurate but is certainly more fun.
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