First crush

I was sitting there having dinner with my son and out of the blue he tells me: "I have a crush on Steph."

"What?!"

"I have a crush on Steph," he repeated again with a little smile on his face.

Steph is a beautiful 16-year old who has babysat Dex on a few occasions. We last saw her last weekend when Dex and I were strolling the neighbourhood and happened by their house when Steph's mom was weeding the garden. Dex and I offered to help and as we were pulling out weeds, Steph came out to say hi and helped Dex start a pile of weeds. Did I say she is awfully cute and sweet?

Anyway, I thought this was just the greatest thing so I immediately phoned Steph to let her know about it. Dex was thrilled to speak on the phone with her and he very quietly said "I have a crush on you."

When I told Jon, he also thought this was very cute, except he said "I'm not sure Dex knows what crush means." Apparently, one of the games that Steph and Dex plays is wrestling on the sofa. At one point, Dex thought it was the funniest thing to try and crush Steph between the couch and a pile of cushions.

This still counts as a first crush, right?

Pockets

"I have pockets," he said with delight, as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

He's finally discovered them! I thought it was amusing when I used to look at his baby outfits and see pockets. What's a baby going to do with pockets? Hide his cigarettes? Wallet? Car keys?

Now that he's discovered them, I guess I have to be more vigilant about checking pockets before throwing clothes in the wash. I'd hate to see laundered snails and worms in a post-wash stage.

New wheels

Jon ordered this little car last year and it finally arrived yesterday. A couple of hours of assembly and a surprisingly low level of swearing later, it was ready for the test drive. Dex was thrilled but not quite sure how to make it go faster or how to reverse.

Mother's Day 2009

It was a nice surprise when Mom and Dad arrived last Saturday. They're here with us now making this Mother's Day an extra special one.

Being a mom really is a wonderful feeling. I love it. And the one thing about being a mom, I think it made me want to be a better daughter. Getting a reality check on what it takes to be responsible for someone sure changed my view of the world.

Jon was trying to tell Dex last night that Lola is mummy's mommy. Dex was not too sure about that. He smiled ever so slightly perhaps thinking that Daddy was making a joke. I guess it must be a tough concept for a little guy to process.

This mother's day, I'm counting all my blessings -- starting with the cute little guy and of course, my wonderful husband. I'm also thinking of Mom and Dad and trying to imagine them as young parents, wishing we lived a little closer to them so that Dex can grow up with beautiful memories of being with Lolo and Lola.

See you later, Mommy

Another milestone day.

"Byebye Mommy," he said with a big smile and a wave as I dropped him off at daycare.

Today is the first day he has ever said that to me. Usually, Dad is responsible for dropping him off and for months now, Dad has been reporting that he drops Dex off and the little guy dismisses him with a quick wave before running into the playground. This used to astound me because every time I drop Dex off, there is still some drama with the farewells. I usually have to coax him into the playground then wait until he's distracted before slipping off. There's been many a day when I've dropped him off and my last sight is of a wailing child being consoled by a teacher. Until today.

I checked the date. It's almost a year to the day when we first dropped him off to daycare. It took that long to get to this stage. Sniff sniff. Before long, he's no longer going to need his mommy. I need to adjust to this realization. Let me ponder this thought as we head into Mother's Day weekend.