Scrapbook Moments: The thank you tree, Gavin-isms and the prickly pear

Dear Diary,

My kids are so funny.  They make me laugh every day.  

The End.  

Or to elaborate...here are a few moments that I intend to cherish forever. I remember when my little brother was little and would say these precious and hilarious little boy things, I would ask my mom "do you think my kids will say cute things like that?"

Um. Yes.

I know every child has their own version of preciousness like this, and I love that there are our little memories of life.  So blessed to call these small, ordinary stories our own.

The Thank you Tree
Someone gave us this beautiful little idea earlier in the year and I'm SO GLAD since it will forever be a Cox Family tradition.  We embarked on a wagon ride journey early in November to pick out the perfect "Thank you Tree" (translation: lots of loose sticks that we could pick up in the dark).  This was actually quite a feet since our neighborhood is only about 10-12 years old, so there aren't really mature trees anywhere.  We were able to scrounge up quite the assortment of sticks- the sticks that were born to become our sweet little "thank you tree".

We were thankful for an assortment of things this year from "Starbucks happy hour" (that was mom) to "us all playing on the playground together" to "having a mommy and a sister" to Harper who just said "daddy"...or other times "do by doo".  

I loved it though.  Pondering on and listening to the blessings in our life, hearing Gavin say "and what are you thank you for, Harper," hearing our little family give thanks to the One who has blessed us with so much.  We left it up through Christmas to remind us of our blessings...and it's still up now- although for far less symbolic reasons...mostly because I haven't taken it down yet.

Stories about Harper 

Our Harpie is a feisty little booger.  We've decided she's our little spit fire girl.  That girl can grin a powerful grin, but can also be a little pistol when she wants to be.  Who said being a girl was meant to be all syruppy and sweet and full of gum drops?

She loves her baby dolls and loves to kiss them and rock them and hug them.  But more importantly than baby dolls...she loves anything that Gavin is playing with and has a gravitational pull towards microphones and dancing.  No idea where that came from.

There's a place where she has bitten on her bed and you can see the teeth imprint in the wood.  Every morning when I go to wake her up, she'll stand there and act like she's giving me a piece of the wood. She'll pretend to pick up a little piece in between in her two tiny fingers and hand it to me with much aplomb.  So sweet.

She also LOVES to help cook and stir and help pour the cereal in the morning.  She always wants "a kick" (and there's way more "k" than vowels when she says it).  Lately is also very into fruit loops and will make a mad, warrior dash like sprint when she sees the pantry door open to try to weasel her little hand in to get some.  Words that describe Harper: spry, like a prickly pear, sensitive, cheeser, independent, sillyishly serious and jabbery.


Gavin-isms
A few things that this mama will remember forever..



The other day after complaining that his tummy hurt and then taking a drink of milk he stated with excitement, "Mom! This milk is feeling me better!"

Instead of saying "nothing", Gavin says "anything". Example:
Me: Gavin what are you doing?
Gavin: Anything...

Me: Gavin, What's wrong
Gavin: (sometimes in a pouty voice) Anything, mom.
I LOVE it.  The other day, he actually said "nothing" and it about broke my heart.  I think it was just a fluke though.  It shouldn't happen again...

He loves to wear "comfy pants" and has started putting his own clothes on...which leads us to strange afternoon discoveries of shirts and pants on backwards.  He loves to put together fun pajama combos and can be seen in anything except a match set of jammies.

And look at those sweet little fingers holding that cup! 

The other day, my sister asked Gavin what he wanted for Christmas and for some reason he answered- a bell!  When she asked him why, he answered "so I can ring it for Mommy.  Mommy will think it's cool."

Speaking of cool...Gavin has a saying- not sure where he got it, but he says that "girls are beautiful and boys are cool."  So if I ever say that anything is beautiful, he'll say, "no it's not, Mom, it's cool."  I keep forgetting.

Gavin is a bossy little thing...but oh my goodness, what a good, big brother.  I guess he's just decided that he's the third parent.  When he bosses Harper, I'll say something inspirational that a truly great parent would say like "Gavin, are you the mommy?"  He'll reply...(why am I surprised?)..with something like "no, I'm the daddy!"  Funny- he doesn't usually say things like that when Matthew is around...

 

I've overheard him saying things like "Harper- I not going to pick up your cup for you because you dropped it on purpose."  Or "stop crying, Harper, I can't hear you when you whine.".  Hmmm... I can't imagine where he's learned phrases like that!

Gavin has gotten into a bad habit of ALWAYS having to go to the bathroom during dinner.  I would think that he's just trying to ditch dinner time except for that he really goes.  It's really cute though because when he leaves the table he'll say "okay, mom, I go to the bathroom and I be right back" and he'll repeat it to every member of the family at the table until he is acknowledged with an "okay".  Even Harper knows that she has to be fully informed about his bathroom intentions and has to confirm her receipt of the information.  He repeats it to every member and then says it reassuringly the whole way he's walking to the bathroom...as though we might forget.  I LOVE it.  I'm pretty sure every meal's escape brings me to the place where I am clasping my chest with a maternally blissful heart palpitation.  I seriously could not love that kid any more.

And speaking of bathroom humor, Harper has started telling us that she wants to go "boop" or "poppy".  Most of the time it's just a fun way to get to take her clothes off and get a lot of attention while she sits on the potty, but SOMETIMES she actually does go potty! The other night we were all gathered around her while she attempted to go "poppy" and she actually went!  We all exploded in encouragement, but Gavin was probably the most excited of all of us.  He exclaimed "Harper!  That was amazing.  That was just dicolous!!" LOVE.  He also stated quite the contrary an hour or so later when Harper pottied on the carpet.  He said with much disdain "Harper, that is not amazing."  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.

What a gift.  Every day.  

Not every day is perfect...in fact most days are far from it, but I'm so happy for these little pieces of everyday-edness that will be written on my heart forever.