Quotes from Mr. Personality

Look at that handsome boy.  Oh I love him!  He is so spunky and way, way too smart for his own good.  I want to put together a post of some of the parenting lessons I’ve learned from this strong-willed boy, but that will have to wait for another day.  Today, I just want to capture some quick “Noah-isms.”

-Noah is the life of the party wherever we go—people love him and know him.  At a recent church clean-up activity, he was amusing everyone, young and old, with his commentary as we picked dandelions, saying things like, “Wow! Look at this big bopper!”

-When I was nagging him one day to pick up his toys and come eat his lunch, he responded, “Just let me do my thing, Mom.  Just chill out, okay?”

-When we were all sitting around the breakfast table last week, he said out of the blue, “The sun is made out of hot burning gas, you know.”

-Noah hates it when I tell him that he can’t grow up.  I have no idea why.  But he always tells me, “That’s not a nice word!” and recently also added, “I’m gonna tell my teachers that you say naughty words!”  Hahaha!  

-When Noah found out that we were going to be in Denver for Callum’s birthday party, he excitedly suggested, “Mom, we can make Callum’s birthday cake!”  Then he thought better of it and said, “Well, maybe we should have Aunt Sarah and Jade make it so it actually looks good.”

-When he was being out of control at a Café Rio recently, I picked him up and started carrying him out to the car for a time out, and he was thrashing around violently in my arms shouting, “I don’t love you anymore!  I’m never going to love you again!!!” Everyone in the restaurant was amused at my expense.

-Noah loves to say the prayer over dinner, and he never fails to include this line: “Bless everyone in this whole world!”  It makes sense--he literally loves and talks to everyone he comes in contact with.  He is a people person.

-In the midst of a grumpy day recently, I lost my temper with Noah, and when I came back into the room, I heard him saying to his baby sister, “Punch Mom for me, Sally.  Just punch her--she’s always being mean to me!”  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  I actually burst out laughing because I realized I kind of deserved it--but seriously, so naughty!!!

-With the exception of when he encourages Sally to punch me, Noah is a really good big brother.  He adores Sally and always baby-talks her and gets the biggest grins out of her.  It’s the sweetest.  He says things like, “Hello there, chubby girl!  Hello there, my chubby-wubby.”  Let’s hope he never says that to any other women in his life!

-Sometimes when we drive by the temple, Noah wants to talk about marriage.  He asked the other day if he can marry me when he grows up.  I told him that I am already married, so he asked who is available. I listed off some of his little girl friends from church and school, and he thought about it for a moment, apparently unimpressed because his next question was, “Are those really all my options, Mommy?” 

-A favorite recent memory of Noah is definitely the 5K run we had at our church.  Noah wanted to wear one of the free race t-shirts, but it was an adult size large so it was massive on him.  We tucked it into his sweatpants, and as he raced along on his little strider bike, the shirt filled with air and billowed out like a fat-suit.   He was trying so hard to keep up with the big kids so he was cruising ahead of me and Ryan, his legs flying out to the sides, his head tucked in determination.  It is a picture I will never forget. 

-When we were at a friend’s house, Noah was being very demanding and shouting for a juice box.  As my friend headed into her pantry, I said, “Noah you can’t have one until you ask nice.”  He looked at me and said, “Why?  She’s getting it for me anyway.”  Ooooh such a stinker!  Can you see how I have my hands full??

I love him too much.  Most days he’s really very pleasant to be around, but he has this defiant streak that I’m not quite sure what to do about.  Ryan and I are doing our best to be consistent and loving, and I feel like we are learning which things to let go of and which things to insist upon.  I am a better, more patient, less controlling mother because Noah is my firstborn.  He is good for me!

Couldn’t possibly love this handsome boy more!