This and That

Sambo has turned into a big boy. He communicates perfectly without any confusion and very few temper tantrums -- all without uttering a word. He doesn't speak, but we somehow know exactly what he wants. It's so interesting, especially since we had the extreme opposite experience with his brother (who talked/talks incessantly).

Here and there Sambo does throw fits, which I hate to admit, but I think are hilarious. He screams once in awhile, but more often than not, he just collapses to the floor/ground and goes totally limp. Sometimes crying accompanies the limp behavior, but sometimes he just lays there. If I ignore him for a few seconds, he gets up and goes on his merry way like nothing happened. He gets frustrated if he is treated like a baby, specifically if we break up his food or if he can't do something Buddy is doing. Last week he got mad at his coloring book at church. He couldn't turn to the right page or something, so he tried to crumple up the book, then he threw it down on the ground. That wasn't quite good enough, so he picked it up and threw it harder. It was so funny, and he had the people behind us laughing too. I think one of the funniest things in the whole world are when calm people get mad.

Buddy has been enjoying summer. He still is into birds and nature. We went to a community parade yesterday and he was pleased to see a citizen picking up a few items of trash from the ground and throwing them away. He said he liked that guy because he was "protecting the environment."

He's really interested in cars lately and has started to enjoy identifying different makes and models. I'm usually OK with his obsessions, but I draw the line at this one. I'm not a fan of cars and discussing them bores me to tears. He really likes Mustangs and in case you care, he saw 11 Mustangs on Friday. And every time he sees one he tries to call G on his cell phone because he knows I don't give a flying rip. His all-time favorite is the Shelby Cobra Mustang -- a convenient pairing of his love of animals and cars. But, lest you think he loves all cars, for some reason he HATES PT Cruisers.

He also is now quite interested in origami after he attended a Japanese workshop last week. As hard as I try, I cannot understand the directions, which is frustrating to both of us. I had a Sambo experience trying to fold a parrot. I couldn't get past step three, so I threw my folded piece of paper on the floor. Then picked it up and threw it further. That night Buddy prayed that he would become really good at origami. (I assume so he doesn't have to rely on me and my incompetence.)

A few days ago I was getting the the boys ready for bed and Buddy was going to the bathroom. He frantically called me into the bathroom, which was strange because normally he is really private while taking care of business. He told me to hurry because he had to show me something. When I arrived, he informed me that he had pooped a heart shape and it was "the coolest thing he had ever seen."

Last night I went to check on the boys on my way to bed. Sambo had taken the sheet halfway off (he does that all the time), but this time he had climbed under the sheet and the mattress pad and was sleeping right on the plastic mattress.

Buddy begs me every night when I put them to bed to let Sambo sleep with him. Of course, I will never do that (they would stay up all night fooling around — they already stay up way too late as it is). So I decided to lay Sambo down next to Buddy will I fixed the sheet. I knew Buddy would be thrilled when I showed him in the picture of them sleeping together. Neither one of them woke up, but Buddy rolled around for a second and realized Sambo was there too, so he snuggled in right close to him.

Me? What have I been up to? Nothing special. Although a boy peed his pants while giving a talk today in Primary. Unfortunately, that's been the most exciting thing to happen to me lately. It was so awesome.