Forget-Me-Nots

The turkey is brining in the fridge and the kids are all washed up and in their PJs watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with fresh ice cream mustaches on their faces. Audrey checked the clock every 5 minutes until 8 o'clock and now, she and Marcus have been cracking up at the same silly parts, just as they do every year. I don't ever want to buy these episodes on DVD because the fun of catching them on TV for every holiday season is something even I look forward to.

I'll leave a more profound list of thanksgivings for another time. For now, I've got a few family forget-me-nots that make me smile and make me thankful for even the small and quirky things.

1. When Audrey sings in the shower, her original songs always sound like a collaboration between Rihanna and Lady Gaga. She'll take three words and create a melody that is loudly repetitive and annoyingly catchy.

2. Derek's graduated from "_______-sauce" and has added quite a bit to his vocabulary recently. Fruits and vegetables and the ABC song are his new obsessions. When meeting new people or when he wants to join in on a conversation, he might list off different letters of the alphabet or "banana, apple, melon, yellow pepper, or green one."

3. The ABC song being a major preoccupation lately, that's all Derek wants us to sing for him. Apparently, the lyrics are always on his mind. Yesterday, I gave him a yogurt stick and he was so excited, he exclaimed, "NOW I KNOW MY! NOW I KNOW MY!". It would have been easier to just say, "YAY", but this was obviously a more appropriate interpretation of his emotions at the time.

4. After talking to other mom friends, there's apparently an OCD phase of development for 2-3 year old boys. One friend told me her son had to hold a spatula wherever he went for a year and a half. When he got into trouble, his parents would say, "Son, you need to obey or we're gonna take your spatula away!" Another friend told me her son MUST hide random knick knacks in his family members' worn socks and even sleep holding these stinky socks stuffed with coins and marbles and such. This news has comforted me and now I don't think it's weird that all Derek wants to do all day is hold armfuls of fruits or vegetables. I bought a yellow bell pepper the other day just for Derek to hold and then I found it in the toy bin at the end of the day.

5. Marcus has been wiping his mouth after I kiss him lately. I finally asked him why and he said it's because my lips are too big. Now, he makes me pinch my lips together really tight so that the least amount of lip surface area touches his. Sad.

6. Audrey shares the same lip volume as I do. Mike told me that when he kisses her, he feels like he's kissing another woman.