Banana Boy

I've been meaning to post about Banana Boy for awhile and haven't gotten around to it.

He is an amazing little person who lives all his emotions out loud. When he is happy, you know it and his whole body is happy! When he is angry, you know it! His whole body is angry. He is my best kid for talking about his feelings.

He thinks the deepest thoughts. Last night I asked him who he thought his mom would be when he grew up. He thought a bit and decided it would probably be Rose Bud. He was so surprised to find out it would still be me! He said, "No! You will be a grandma then!" Yes, but I will still be your mom. "Ohhhhhh! I thought Rose Bud would be a mom when she got big." Yes, but she will be a mom to her own children and you will have YOUR own children and I will be their grandma. "Ohhhhhhh."

He has such strong faith and loves Jesus with all his heart. He is always singing little praise songs he makes up and they are so sweet and so funny. "Oh, Lord, my Lord. You are great. You are good. Sometimes you are bad. I praise you when you're good or bad. You are awesome. An awesome God. Ohhhhhh, Lorrrrrrrd... You are God and I am God." (His theology needs a little work!!! LOL) He is the one who always initiates the table prayer and wants to pray at bedtime. He knows his Bible stories inside and out (well, sometimes they are a little inside out) from listening to Bible story CDs.

He must come from a long line of musicians because this child can sing and dance! Just last week I had him along when I picked up Daisy at her piano lesson and I had him play for the teacher. She was really impressed with his rhythm and musicality. Daisy has taught him to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb." by memory. She plays it with chords. She taught him the melody, but in an effort to copy her, he taught himself to play it in two octaves at once so it sounds like chords. I couldn't believe it when I first heard him doing it.

After weeks (and weeks and weeks) of Mary Had a Little Lamb on two fronts, I finally taught him the first part of Happy Birthday. So he has been picking that out by ear and adding to it little by little. He also has heard Daisy playing Hickory, Dickory, Dock for the last few weeks and accidentally played a bit of that one day. So now he is figuring out how to play that.

He also owns a harmonica, a ukelele, an accordian, a recorder and a myriad of miscellaneous rhythm instruments. Oh, and Indian ankle bells.

He's going to be another mathematician (that makes us 4 for 5 with Sunshine an unknown as of yet). Math is currently the only school he's interested in doing on a regular basis, although he IS beginning to read!

He blew me away one day when we were at the doctor and he sounded out the word "and"! I had shown him, very briefly, how sounds blend together and make a word and hadn't really thought he was paying attention. I guess he was! We haven't pushed it much, but he is very interested in spelling and sounds right now. A smart cookie!

Banana Boy is a huge snuggler and would be carried in the backpack all day if I had the strength. He loves to be hugged and kissed and held. He will spontaneously come up and hug and kiss us. And his very favorite thing in the world is to sleep in my bed!

His other gift is hair styling. I seriously think he is going to be a hair stylist when he grows up! He LOVES to comb and brush and stroke my hair (I'm the only one who will let him do it--the girls won't let him touch their hair!). If I enjoyed this, I'd let him practice with ponytail holders and such, but I actually hate to be handled!

His strong emotions require LOTS of patience and God has definitely blessed me with extra patience to spend on this little boy. I never was a patient person but I am learning to take a deep breath before I even start to interact with him when he gets worked up.

His other passion is bike riding and he's so excited that it is spring and he is 5 and a half because in our house, the spring when people are five and a half they know how to ride a two wheeler! So very soon I will be taking his training wheels off and he will be able to ride without them!

He is strong and wiry and can climb to the top of the rope swing.

He is funny and curious and smart and loving and open and a joy to be around.

We are blessed to be your mom and dad, Banana Boy!

Blessings,
Mommy