Easy Things

I know you’re never supposed to compare children. It’s like the most often repeated phrase in the “What to Ex.pect” books. But I’m constantly seeing other kids do this or that and I can’t help but think, “I wish Buddy was that easy.” If you hadn’t yet noticed, I adore Buddy. He’s the great joy of my life. I love him just the way he is, but he just isn’t all that easy.

I hate to be a complainer, so I decided to compile a list of ways he does make life especially easy for us:

1. He slept eight hours at night at six weeks and all the way through the night at nine weeks. Now, why he can’t sleep through the night now is a big mystery, but for a good few years he was an incredible sleeper. (Anybody about there know why an almost 4-year old would not sleep well all of a sudden?)
2. He’s great about riding in the car. He never in all of his life has complained about long car rides. He sat happily and content the entire ride to Nevada a couple of weeks ago. (I’ll blog about that one of these days). And when we drove to Utah and got caught in a scary snow storm at Christmas time, he actually cried when we FINALLY arrived… at 2:00 in the morning… a mere 16.5 hours after we left our home… because he didn’t want to get out of the car. Gotta love a kid who loves road trips because I was ready to shoot myself.
3. He isn’t shy and never had separation anxiety. He loves people. He has a lot of talents, but his best gift is his ability to be-friend everybody. I wish I were more like that.
4. He’ll eat anything. And I mean anything. We went out to lunch this week and he was over-the-moon excited when he realized we were eating at a seafood restaurant. In fact, he not only downed most of the food on his plate, but he also ate the lemon (including the rind) that you’re supposed to squirt on the fish.
5. He loves vegetables. I’ve never heard of a toddler that’ll choose vegetables over anything else. But he will. A couple weeks ago we were shopping at the grocery store and I was picking out some fresh vegetables. Buddy saw the broccoli and begged me to buy some. He said, “If I’m a good boy while we’re shopping, can I have some broccoli when we get home?” Of course I was OK with that, but I just think that’s so strange that he’d want raw broccoli for a snack. Then the other night we had peas and sloppy joes for dinner. Buddy said, “If I eat all my dinner, can I have some more peas?” He did indeed eat all his dinner, so I gave him some more. He ate all those then he begged for some more, so I actually had to cook more because he wouldn’t take no for an answer. And don't get me started about how many cooked carrots he consumed tonight.
6. He’s easy on the eyes. He just about makes me crazy most days. He’ll be in the middle of a WWIII-style temper tantrum or arguing match and I’ll be on the verge of a meltdown myself. Then I look at him and think, “Thank goodness he’s so adorable.” Seriously, if he wasn’t so cute…