Ah,Life: Soren Update May 2014

One night Soren and I were talking about ghosts and spirits-- and about how sometimes the spirits of people who have died can visit people who are still alive. "I would be pretty scared if that happened," said Soren. Then he thought for a moment. "Unless it was you. If it was you I would probably hug you and it would be so great...because I bet I would have been missing you a lot."

"It would be so hard to be apart, wouldn't it?" I agreed.

Then Soren teared up. "Just thinking about it makes my heart die!" he cried. He climbed onto my lap. We snuggled for a moment and then he whispered, "I love you."
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Soren's little brain whirls at about a million miles a minute. Last night from his bed, he kept asking me things like, "What caused the Big Bang?" and "Is there anything older than God?" He'll randomly say things like, "Six plus three equals nine, but it's interesting to me that there are three letters in six and five letters in three, and that equals eight. So it's pretty close! Isn't that cool, Mom?"

One day he was contemplating variations on the old notion of raining cats and dogs. "What if," he pondered aloud, "it rained chainsaws?" He thought about that for a while and added, "What if it rained the biggest chainsaws in the world?" He pondered aloud for quite some time on the possible havoc such a storm would wreak.
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One night while I was away at choir practice, Daddy and Soren and Liam decided to all sleep in the recliner together. The three of them snuggled in under a blankie. Liam fell asleep almost immediately. Soren, on the other hand, wiggled. And turned. And twisted. And readjusted. Finally he said, "Daddy? I can't sleep without the fan." So he climbed off, retrieved the fan from his room, plugged it in for some white noise, and climbed back aboard. He wiggled some more. And turned. And twisted. And readjusted. He finally realized it just wasn't going to happen. It was just way too different from the quiet and solitude of his own bed. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he said. "I'm going to have to go sleep in my own bed." And he padded off to his bed.
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One day I overheard Soren point a weapon at one of Liam's Lego structures and say, "I obliterate you! I obliterate you! I obliterate you!"
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One thing I love about reading chapter books with Soren is that the increased complexity of the plots and characters make him think and asked questions, particularly about the moral choices of the characters. He pays attention to how they behave frequently comments on the good and bad that they do. He was simply horrified at the antics of Roald Dahl's Twits.
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Soren was telling me and Abe about a girl in his class. "She's kind of a company girl," he remarked. We were intrigued. "What's a 'company girl'?" asked Abe. "Oh, you know, one of those girls that spends all her time with lots of other girls. Like in a circle. A company girl."
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Soren made it a point to give a Valentine to a kid who's never been very nice to him.
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Soren cannot stand to lose. He just. can't. stand. it. We tried to teach the boys how to play "Old Maid," but he ended up quitting when things didn't go his way. The next day I found the Old Maid crumpled up under the chair he'd been sitting by.
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One day, out of the blue, Soren told me that it wasn't what people seemed like that was important-- it was what was in their hearts that really mattered. He expounded on that for quite a while.
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My boy learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! At last and hallelujah! He had to do it in such a way that he never, ever crashed or got hurt, so, as you might imagine, it took some time. But now that he can ride, boy does he. He spends as much time on his bike as he possibly can. He and I even rode our bikes together to Auntie Clee's house-- a distance of about three miles. Not bad for a new rider.
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For Liam's birthday, we bought a couple of plastic dinosaurs for Soren to give his brother. I gave them to Soren to wrap. He wandered off with them and returned a while later with notes taped to each dinosaur. The triceratops's note said, "I love you, Liam." The note on the Tyrannosaurus Rex read, "Soren's and Liam's."
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Soren has SUCH a good heart. He has a strong desire to do good and to be kind. Sometimes his wild emotions and inability to focus on/remember to do stuff make for some frustrating times, but his good heart just melts me. Every time I look at him, my own heart just bursts with love.

He's a super-awesome, adorable child and I'm so glad I get to be his mama.
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Bonus Feature!

Jokes, by Soren:

Why did the towel fall off the towel rack?
Because towels fall down just randomly!

Why did the faucet turn itself on?
Because someone turned it on and didn't notice it!

Why did the baby drink soda?
Because his mom didn't make milk; she made soda!

Why did the car drive on the zebra?
Because the person that was driving the car liked zebras' meat, so he cut off all their fur so he could get the meat.

Why did the two-year-old fall in the toilet?
Because he wasn't looking where he was going!

Why did the house flood?
Because there's a river near the house!

Why did the Ramen noodle fall out of the pan?
Because it wanted to make a story!

Why did....?
Because!

Why did the fox go to the metal?
Because bugs to to the light, so bigger things go to metal!

Why did the fish go by the whale?
Because I'm going to write a story about it!

Soren after his first grade concert. He was kind of in his own little world throughout the entire thing, but he does occasionally sing me the songs he learned over the year. Don't you just want to pick him up and squeeze him?

Soren on his 7th birthday, solemnly posing next to his birthday tree.

I don't remember what this was all about, exactly. I think the boys were posing as superheroes, maybe.

. . . and this is what Soren looks like when he's eating cottage cheese.

A snowman with a captain crunch face.

...and he's got it!

We found a pair of conjoined twin strawberries that TOTALLY freaked Soren out. He asked me to tell the reporters. I posted it on Facebook instead, and for the rest of the day he kept an eye out for the news media to show up at our door.

The boys and I were lucky enough to spend a few hours with my Uncle John, Aunt Annette, and some of their kiddos when they passed through Idaho on their way home to Washington after a visit with relatives in Utah.