Thursday, April 26, 2012

Ready, Set, Go!

I know I've posted on Whit's tendency to emulate every sport he sees but this week the cutest thing happened that I simply needed to share it as well. Throughout baseball season Whit has practiced sliding, stealing bases and blocking (what the catcher does), taken batting practice, thrown a bull pen (or twenty), driven the tractor and yelled at the players (aka what Daddy does). I've always assumed that it was repetition of exposure that lead Whit to do what he sees on and around the baseball field. Recent events lead me to believe that he's simply a copy cat. I won't go as far as to analyze whether this makes him a leader or a follower or how it might affect his tendency to give into peer pressure as a teen. Today has enough worry as it is, I ought not borrow trouble from tomorrow. This week, as Whit was roaming far and away from the baseball field during the game we came upon the football team's spring practice. The boys were lined up along the hill between the school and the athletic complex running sprints. After three rounds of sprints the boys grouped up for a talk from the coaches and Whit lined up on the sprint line. He placed his feet on the line and his hands on the ground in true sprinter form, as he had seen the boys do. He looked at me and said "Mama!" indicating that I should line up as well. I indulged him, of course. Whit yelled "Ready, set, go!" in his own language, and took off at a brisk sprint up the hill, glancing back to see if I was following. We repeated the exercise several times until Whit was so tuckered out that I had to carry him back to the ball field. Child development theorists say that around the preschool years children begin to develop hero worship. I assume that Whit has chosen the players (of every sport it seems) to be his heroes. To be honest, Kirk has had some amazing players come through his program. I can remember him commenting that, if he ever had a son, he would want that child to be like one or another of the players. There are definitely worse heroes Whit could choose and I hope those boys are aware of the fresh young boys and girls that they are influencing.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Say that again!?

I'm sure every mother thinks that every tiny thing their child does is precious. Or maybe not... the newly blossoming temper tantrums are not precious....maybe our next child will have my temper rather than Kirk's.

Anyway, this post is about words, not wordless tantrums. I've always been quite taken with Whit's adorable little voice (perhaps in the same way that I'm obsessed with the way he smells?) and I can always recognize his voice among a crowd (thanks evolution). A mere whisper in the night can rouse me from the deepest slumber.

Another thing Whit received from his father and not his mother are his sleeping habits. Since my earliest memory (ignore what my mother says!) I've been a very sound sleeper. So sound, in fact, that my father's fire drills often did not wake me even with an open door and a fire alarm three feet outside my door. Whit, on the other hand, typically wakes up if he hears Kirk and myself talking a room away. Forget loud noises in the house; I hold my breath! Whit also wakes up occasionally during the night and he's begun coming into our bedroom and asking to get into bed.

At this time of night he's a boy of few words
WHIT: "Mama...Mama...."
ME: (groggily) "Yes, baby?"
WHIT: "Mama"
Whit gets in bed
WHIT: (with surprise) "Daddy!"
KIRK: "Let's go back to sleep."
WHIT: "Otay!"

It's conversations such as these that I wish I were recording for prosperity, or just for the pleasure of listening to those sweet words again.

Whit has many things that he says that are just as sweet but perhaps the most charming are what I've dubbed "Whiticisms" when discussing the phenomenon with my sister. I was casually observing that some children repeat, verbatim and with correct pronunciation, the words they hear. Whit simply repeats what he thinks he hears, what seems right to him. And often his words will evolve, not developing a closer similarity to the source just becoming something new.

This time last year we would drive by HVA on our way to a game and Whit would yell "Ba-ball, ba-ball, Da-da!" This year the word he uses is somewhere between "basket" and "box." "Help" began with the sign for help, evolved to "Wha" and is now "hep" in conjunction with the sign. In most instances, I will repeat the correct word,
Whit will acknowledge that we are saying the same word and will then repeat his Whiticism. Eventually I'm sure his words will sound correct to all of us and not just himself but for now I delight in asking him to repeat himself either for clarification or just so that I can smile.

Other captivating phrases are defined below.

Muncus = Monster
Binkus = Strawberries
Bicks = grapes
Bugs (I think) = glove
Talk = phone
Opee = open, or window
All nine = All done
All nock = All gone
na-nen = again
A-sas = outside
All nick = All right (this is a new one)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Happy Easter!

Easter is such a special time. In the way of religious holidays it often seems overlooked next to the gaudy celebration of Christmas. But in it's own way Easter is the heralding of spring and carries with it the most important message for those of the Christian faith. There are times when it bothers me slightly that we spend so much of our holidays concentrating on the materialistic aspects and we tend to relegate the religious aspects to an hour at church and a prayer before a meal. I do, and always will, strive to make the religious holidays about religion so that Whit can grow up understanding that Easter celebrates the Resurrection, not a bunny that brings eggs.

Still, some traditions cannot be ignored so along with teaching Whit about our faith we also took some time to color and hunt for eggs.