Soren: July 2010

Soren has entered the Phase of the Question. I'll be pushing him along in the stroller and it's just one million questions a minute: "Mommy, what's that tractor doing? Why is it doing that? What's construction? What's construction for? Who's that man? What is he doing? What are those lines on the road? Who painted them there? Are they going to get spanked? What kind of bird is that? What's its name? What's your name? What's Daddy's name? What's making that noise? What's the machine? What's it doing? Why is it doing that?"

I always thought I would find this phase irritating, but instead I find it electrifying. Soren is so aware right now, so alive to everything around him. Learning is an adventure, a pleasure, and his mind is so open to new ideas. We spent one snack time cutting grapes and pieces of cheese into various shapes and then moving them around to create new shapes. He was enthralled by the fact that two triangles make a square, that two squares make a rectangle. He loved finding that you could cut a grape in half one way and make a circle....or in half the other way to create an oval. I've also been trying to check out books from the library that coincide with his interests: he was all obsessed with water pipes for a while, so we got "The Magic School Bus Visits the Waterworks." He saw a volcano on Dora the Explorer, so we checked out a book about volcanoes. He was curious about llamas, so we found a book about llamas. We thoroughly examine and question each item on the page.

One night while we were singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Soren stopped me and asked, "Mommy, what's 'are'?"
"Um.... 'Are' means that some things exist.'"
"What does 'exist' mean?"
"Er....'Exist' means 'to be.'"
"What does 'to be' mean?"
"That, my son, is a question for the ages."
Pause.
"'For the ages!' What's 'for the ages'?"

Doesn't he look so handsome and ridiculously grown-up?

Soren's been into girl stuff lately. He likes for me to paint his toenails, he enjoys applying chapstick, and he often begs to wear my clothes. This somewhat perturbs his father, but I'm not overly concerned. He's simply imitating what he sees--the poor child does live with three women-- and I'm not one enforce arbitrarily created gender stereotypes. His peers and cultural experiences will take care of that, I'm sure. And no, we haven't yet checked out any library books about transvestites.

Soren woke me up one morning by calling from his room, "Mommy! There's a baby in my belly!" I opened the door and saw this.

The bubba also really enjoys music. I've mentioned before that he loves to sing. He also loves to listen to music with grandma: Songs for Toddlers; Peter, Paul, and Mary; Abba; Neil Diamond. He likes to "play" Grandma's piano and does so with a surprising amount of expression. And he connects with music on an interesting level. For example, when he hears a song written in a minor key, he'll ask, "Mommy, is it dark in that song?"

Funny stuff he says/does:

Nano (aka Uncle Quentin) taught Soren to say, "Open Sesame," and Soren says it all the time. Sometimes when we ask him to say "the magic word," instead of "thank you" he'll say "Open sescapee!"


Soren is obsessed with people's full names and makes sure to remind me of my own several times daily. I also engage with him like a child and play a game in which we repeatedly tell each other that we're crazy. It's wildly entertaining to him, and it goes something like this:
Mommy: You're crazy.
Soren: No, you're crazy.
Mommy: No, you're crazy!
Soren: No, YOU'RE crazy!
Mommy: Nooooooo......YOU'RE crazy!
Soren: No, you're crazy!
Mommy: No, YOU'RE CRAZY!
(ad nauseum)
And if I say "No, you're crazy!" before he can say it, he'll collapse into fits of laughter, remarking, between giggles, "We're laughing! We're laughing!"

Modeling my Scenic River Classic 5K t-shirt.

He has also become delightfully responsive to verbal affection. I'll say, "Oh, you're my sweet boy!" And he'll respond, "You're my sweet girl!" I'll say, "Will you be my little boy forever and ever?" And he'll say, "Yes! Will you be my little girl forever and ever?" Sometimes I'll swoop him up in my arms for a cuddle and, before I can say anything, he'll say, "You're so cute!"

He's also taken to remarking on the weather. "It's a beautiful day," he'll say, or, "It's not going to rain today."

Soren loves his Grandma. I would also love anyone who always let me have my own way.

Soren's new favorite person in all the world is our next-door neighbor Koen, who is but a few months his senior. Koen's family moved away for about eighteen months, but when they moved back, it was like Soren and Koen had never been apart. Soren ALWAYS wants Koen to come over. And when Koen does comes over, they spend the bulk of their time fighting over toys. Even so, they're usually both distressed when play dates come to an end. One day when we were taking our leave at Koen's house, Koen's mother Katie suggested that Koen give Soren a good-bye hug. Koen did so, and then Soren grabbed Koen by the cheeks and planted a gigantic wet one right on his lips. Koen was horrified, said, "Yuck!" and began frantically wiping at his lips and trying to spit off any remaining kiss particles.

You can almost hear him screaming, "NO! IT'S MY TOY! DON'T TOUCH IT!"

So anyway. Soren is real cute. I love him. Except for the naaasty poopy diapers, I wish he could be three forever. The end.