Collecting Bits

As Nate nears his fifth birthday (tomorrow!!!), I've started compiling a list of things he says, quirks he has, habits he's acquired.  Everything (especially at this age!) is so fleeting that I want to grab hold of it and stuff it into a deep dark memory somewhere so I never lose it!  This is a partial list and not nearly everything I'd like to hold on to, but it's a good start...So, in random order:

Some cute things Nate says that I'm going to miss:

"Look, Mom!  It's a salad field!"

"See this?  This is eatin' grass"! (chives)

"What did you said again?"
"Alex just do'd that" (did)
I don't know "eve-ner" (either)

The way he says brother (Brud-duh) reminds me of that song, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh".  It makes me smile.

He calls Curious George and the Man In the Yellow Hat, "Curious 'N George and Mr. Lell-o Pants"

He is often chased by forehead monsters (cyclops) and zom-mies but is quick to tell Alex that ghosts are just pretend.  He's the perfect blend of imaginative and grounded.

He's always telling stories about "When he was my age" or how when "I was little, he was my brother". I'm constantly reminding him that "he's not 6 years old yet" or "he's never been a girl", or "that Uncle Noah was my brother even when I was a little girl".  Quite a vivid imagination on that one, that's for sure.

He seems to live in movies.  He quotes movies and acts out scenes from things he's seen constantly!!  If you sit close enough to him when he's watching a movie he's seen a hundred times, you can almost hear him reciting all the words under his breath.

He's very dark and morbid for a kid his age.  Everything is death, dying, and destruction.  I'm sure that's the firefighter in him, or perhaps he overhears Daddy talking about his job at 9-1-1, but he's enamored with dark things.  He knows far more than most kids his age about reality.

He's actually a pretty gross kid.  He loves talking about farts, poop, puke...you name it.  He's an incessant booger picker/eater, and despite my insistence that girls will not find that cute or charming as he gets older, he defers not.

He loves the FDNY - he's already worn one FDNY baseball hat to death (that was replaced on our last trip to NYC), has an entire fleet of FDNY fire trucks and police cars, and even specifically requested an FDNY themed birthday party this year!

Suddenly he's too grown up for green blankie, Boo Bankie, Bolt, and Bedtime Bear.  Yet, oddly, when he's "cold" green blankie is always there, and Bolt rarely lets him go on an adventure solo!

Nate is very animated, dramatic, expressive, opinionated, bossy, precocious, helpful, kind, intelligent, creative, mouthy, energetic, independent, fearless, loving, spunky, funny, and so much more!!

I love this boy more than I can possibly express.  I see so much of myself in him (living in his own little world, constantly acting out stories in his head and his actions, expressive to a fault).  He's actually taken to snuggling with me from time to time and is very quick to send me a hug, share a kiss, or shout out an "I love you, Mom" when I need it most.  I love living through his eyes and treasure every moment, every  challenge, and every adventure he leads me on!