My Big Boy

When did my little baby become such a big boy? It’s a strange thing to watch Huston grow up. Most of the changes are so gradual you don’t really notice them, but some days it seems he wakes up 2 inches taller or we’ll notice him saying things that he has never said before. I took him for a much needed haircut a couple of weeks ago and ever since then he looks a year older to me!

Several weeks ago I saw a random car commercial that had a little boy in the backseat at the beginning and a few seconds later there was a different family with a middle-school aged boy in the backseat. I started crying because it seemed like I was seeing a flash forward of Huston in a few years – all grown up and thinking his mom was annoying and not cool and just wanting to hang out with his friends. You better believe that Clarke laughed and laughed at me for crying at a car commercial, but it still makes me cry just thinking about it!

He is just changing so fast and I’m always thinking of things I want to remember. I don’t write them down nearly as often as I should, but here is yet another attempt to record some of my current favorite things about Huston.

Being in control: Huston has decided he likes to be in control of what he says. He’ll refuse to say good-bye to Clarke in the morning, but after Clarke leaves he’ll say “You didn’t say have a good day. That’s a bummer.” At the store he won’t say hi to people who stop to talk to him. Instead he’ll hang his head and say “You’re being shy,” or after we leave with say, “You didn’t say hi. You’re being rude.”

Quirkiness: Huston is full of little quirks. One that I’ve noticed recently is the order in which he plays Hi Ho Cherry-O (one of his favorite things to do lately). If he’s playing with Clarke, Huston is always blue first and Clarke is green, then Huston is green and Clarke is blue. For the third game, Huston is red and daddy is orange, and for the fourth game, Huston is orange and daddy is red. The order never changes and Huston always dictates it exactly the same way. “Do you want to be blue and you want daddy to be green.” It’s so funny how he developed this all by himself.

He hates “stringy things” on food. I don’t know what started this, but if he perceives that any kind of food has “stringy things” on it, he deems it inedible. It can be a broken piece of macaroni, a rough edge on a piece of cheese, a piece of chicken or a piece of turkey lunch meat that’s hanging down – really, almost anything. Although strangely enough, foods like cookies and chocolate and gummies never seem to have stringy things on them. Funny how that works.

Words: I love how he says “grun-ga-bar” for granola bar. As in, “Do you want a blue grun-ga-bar for breakfast.” I like how he says “mac-a-goni” for macaroni and “uncle donald’s” for McDonald’s.

The Bible: The other day we were reading his Bible and I asked him if he knew what the Bible tells us about. He said "It tells me so," (as in, "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so). Isn't that so adorable? Later when I asked him who the Bible tells us about he said "Jesus." So sweet.

Don't: When he asks for a snack and I tell him no, he’ll say “you don’t want mommy to say no.” Or if I say he has five more minutes to play, he’ll say “you don’t want to say five more minutes.” The funniest thing lately is when I’m getting out a toy for Arden and he says “You don’t want Arden to like it.”

Sharing: A few days ago we were driving in the car and Huston yelled “You don’t want to share!” I said “Share what, honey?” His response was: “The road! You don’t want to share the road!” Ever since then he’s started telling me “You don’t want to share Target,” and “ You don’t want to share the grocery store.” According to him, we should be able to have these things all to ourselves.

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His love for Thomas the Tank Engine continues, and he walks around the house singing the theme song in his adorable, mixed-up way. He knows all the engines now and what color they are. Maybe I’ll get sick of it later, but right now I think it’s the cutest thing.

I love you, my big boy.