Grammie Notables from a Recent Conversation with Gamble

From Grammie,

"Talking to Gamble, he shocked us with the following:

"'Grammie you know I have a beard?'

"'Really, Gamble? When did this happen?'

"'Yesterday,' replied Gamble, 'I got it at the Dollar Store!'

"'Gamble, how is your baby sister?'

"Gamble asked, 'Which one?'

"'What? What do you mean, Gamble?'

"Oh, Grammie , you didn’t hear? Mommie has another baby!'

"'Really? When did this happen?'

"'About 2 ½ years ago.'

"'Really? What is her name?'

"'Oh, I don’t know, Random only told me that she has a twin, and she has been in "secret Disguise” all this time!'

"Unreal. He does this all the time, and Grandbear and I think maybe he is just gearing up to be a great fiction writer! He always giggles a little, as if to say, 'Ha! I put one over on the old gram again!'"

Breaking out into Song

Life with Random is like living in a musical. Now that she's seen The Little Mermaid a million times, she breaks into song at ... well, random moments.

Just the other night, we were talking with Gamble about school, and I think she was feeling a little ignored, as she broke out into song, singing "Youuuu..." (points at Daddie), "love..." (points at Mommie), "meeeeeeeee!" (points her finger at Gamble). She looked at us triumphantly, with a look of "Tada!" in her eyes and a huge smile on her face.

Both Numbers

Well, Random will be starting in her new day care when she gets home from Christmas break. She'll be almost three, so we're starting her in the threes room, and they have to be toilet trained, which she decidedly is not.

But her visit to her new school has her very excited, and we are using the school as an incentive for her to sit on the potty. Last week, she sat on the potty a whole bunch of times and has also been asking to go.

She went numbers two and one on consecutive days last week. Go, Random, go!

Literally.

Independence

Well, Mommie is off with Random seeing a Barbie show, and Gamble and I are brewing our first ever batch of beer, so I thought I'd send out a few blogs while the wort is boiling.

From Mommie:

"I was holding my daughter's lunch hostage until she cleaned up all the toys she's scattered across the living room. She claimed that she was still playing, so I went upstairs to get some laundry folded and put away.

"All of a sudden, I hear her saying 'Thank You!" I didn't think much of it.

"After a time, I went downstairs to find that she had gotten her step stool, clambered up to get her lunch off the kitchen counter, and taken it to the table to eat.

"It made me laugh so hard, I had to let her keep eating. What independence these kids are showing!"

Double Feature - Moving the Trilogies Forward

Last night, Gamble and I worked on earning his Trilogy badge. As everyone knows, all little boys are have required viewing, and much of that required viewing comes in the form of trilogies. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Godfather, etc.

We've been holding off on finishing the second of the two Star Wars trilogies for a while now, because Episode 3 is a little darker and scarier than the others. But it's been his whole life's focus to see this movie. He's played the Lego version of it, and even read a lot of the novelized version of it, so given that his peers (all 8 and in 2nd grade) have mostly been allowed to see it, we thought we could let him.

I promised him that if, while his Mommie was out of town, he made good decisions and helped me with Random, I'd let him stay up late and continue another Trilogy we started by watching Temple of Doom. Well, he was so good and so helpful that last night was the night. He'd been built up all day with talk of Indiana Jones, and I wasn't sure how the bait and switch would go over.

He lit up. He was glued to every word, every scene. Every once in a while, I paused to ask him questions to see whether he understood some of the finer points of how Revenge of the Sith tied the two trilogies together, and he was very articulate and mature about his explanations.

He did very well. After the movie ended, and Anakin had completed the descent to the dark side, black suit and all, Gamble started walking to the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to brush my teeth. Time for bed, after our movie, right?"

"I thought we were going to watch Temple of Doom"

I thought he was going to jump out of his skin with excitement. His eyes grew huge, and his smile was bigger than any I can remember. "Can we?!?"

"Sure."

And, as they say in the opening scene of Temple of Doom, anything goes. We watched the movie, which I hadn't seen in a very long time, with Gamble predicting the next events with uncanny detail, because he's been reading the book for a while.

But unlike with Revenge of the Sith, Gamble was full of questions, and I noticed a striking resemblance to Willie, the female lead in Temple of Doom. I never noticed exactly how relentless her annoying conversation could get in that movie, and his relentless questions provoked me into saying something.

"Gamble, you know you and Willie have in common. You both talk non-stop!"

"No, Daddie! I'm not a girl!"

Fair enough. He had me there, but that didn't stop him from pushing on.

"And I don't have cooties!"

Oh, ha. I see what he did there. She's a girl, so she has cooties. He's not a girl and therefore has no cooties. He pressed on.

"And I don't have boobs!"

That sudden feeling of a loss of cabin pressure. Hey, wait! Where'd he hear about boobs? I'm not sure I've mentioned those to him yet. Mental bookmark, but he pressed on.

"And," he finished, triumphant, "she doesn't wear glasses!"

There you have it. He's growing up, having earned both his Star Wars trilogy badges, and already well on his way to his Indy badge.

Showered with Love

Our baby girl is growing up before our eyes, and I bet Mommie's sorry she's missing this one.

Random begged and begged to be allowed to take a shower this evening. Gamble and I both figured she would hate it, as she hates to get water in her face, and we did our best to warn her against it.

But she's right now proving us wrong. She loves it. Beyond words. I am going to have to pry her out of there, but I wanted to tell everyone how much she loved it.

I can here her from here, "I'm in the shower! Honey!"

Home with the Kids

Tonight, a special treat. Gamble, Random, and I are home together, and Gamble and I are planning to stay up late.

Mommie had to make an emergency trip back to Ohio for the funeral of a dear family friend that passed on. Lew Snavely, former Maumee neighbor of Vince and Kathy Davis, passed away and the funeral is tomorrow. Our hearts are with his widow, Great Grandma Charlotte to the kids, through this tough time.