The Next Pavarotti...

...lives in my house, sits on my lap, eats at my table, and sings on my couch.

Want proof?

We're just waiting for all the best music schools to start calling. ;-)

Actually, when I hear him, I can't help but think of the Muslim prayers that blare from the tops of minarets multiple times a day, which we heard often when we lived in Israel. ;-)

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Hannah, this one's for you. I read that you told your mommy Sally that you're going to marry Tobin. I thought you'd be happy to know that he's already practicing how to say, "I do."

And just so you know, I had made this video of him before I read your sweet statement, Hannah. It just so happened that one day, in response to some question, I had answered, "I do." Tobin, being the parrot that he is these days, immediately repeated that. I, being the sentimental woman who remembers just how Tobin's daddy said "I do" on that most glorious day, grabbed the camera to make a video of Tobin's first "I do's." I thought at the time that someday, Tobin's wife would have fun watching how her husband first pronounced those words. I had no idea his future wife would see it so soon. ;-)

Disclaimer: Sally included one on her blog when she wrote about Hannah calling Tobin her husband, and I feel the need for one, too. We do not go around asking the boys, "Oh, who's your little girlfriend?" or any of that nonsense. I feel fine writing here on my blog the cute comments that they make about marriage because they'll never read it until they're old men. :) But let me be clear: we do not push them, even teasingly, to have a girlfriend or think about who they're going to marry. Anything that comes up along these lines (like David's repeated announcements that he's going to marry Joelle) is straight from their own minds!

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Tobin is truly at the parroting stage. I'll say, "We're going to the swimming pool," and he'll cock his little head and say, "Imming ool?" Or I'll tell him, "Grandma's getting corn on the cob for us," and he'll say, "Orn ob?" Of course, after all of his questions, I have to say again, "Yes, swimming pool," or "Yes, corn on the cob." It's no wonder toddlers learn new words at such an explosive rate; they figure out how to get them repeated fifty thousand times a day. I'd be able to learn Spanish or Swahili or Chinese with no problem if I heard it that often. :)

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Another linguistic thing Tobin does is to holler, nearly at the top of his voice, "Mom?" It's exactly what Josiah and David do when they need something and I'm not nearby, or when they don't know where I am and they're trying to find me. When they call me, I just answer back, "What?" and then they know where I am and how loud they really need to make their voice. (Sometimes they think I'm far away, but I'm really just around the corner, so they don't have to talk so loudly!) When Tobin does it, I answer, "What?" but then there's silence. He doesn't really know what to say next. If it's Josiah, he can answer, "I was just wondering where you were," which he often does; or if it's David, he can say, "I can't get the dishwasher open," which he often does. But with Tobin, I'll call, "What?" forgetting that he can't express everything he's thinking. When Tobin addresses me, he normally calls me Mommy; but when he calls out like this, he's learned from his big brothers to just say MOM!

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Tobin has started praying. Sometimes I'll have him repeat after me, something like, "Dear God, thank you for this food. I love you. Amen." But other times, one of us will be praying; and he will start mumbling, too. I can't make out all of his words, but his "Amen" is usually clear. And sometimes, if Jeff is praying and Tobin either thinks he's taking too long or Tobin senses that Jeff is getting close to the end of his prayer, Tobin will say "Amen!" even if Jeff isn't quite done. :)

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I needed to change and wash Tobin's sheets today. First, I needed to find the sheet. Here's what I found on top of it:

~ lamb puppet

~ Baby Bible Devotions book

~ handle of a makeup brush (unused - the boys like to pretend to paint with it)

~ green tractor

~ green truck

~ I Can Go Potty book

~ stuffed puppy from Jenny Sacra

~ squishy ball

~ police car with Hebrew writing on it

~ "Daddy's Jeep" - not the real one, fortunately

~ Harold the Helicopter

~ doctor's kit

~ telephone from another doctor's kit

~ Cows in the House book

~ teddy bear that my kindergarten teacher gave him when he was born

~ Tootle book

~ My Little Bible book

After that, I looked behind and to the side of the bed. Between the bed and the walls, I found these items that had at some point been taken into the bed with Tobin and had then fallen or been pushed off:

~ pink pig that "oinks" when you push its stomach

~ Goodnight Moon book

~ Pinocchio puzzle book in Hebrew

~ My Pal Al stuffed animal

~ Colors book

~ I Love You As Much book

~ unidentified strange animal (toy from a kids' meal at a fast-food restaurant)

~ stuffed monkey

~ old glow bracelet that doesn't glow anymore

~ dust jacket to Papa, Do You Love Me?

~ board book in Hebrew

~ My Little Book of Love

~ Rescue Heroes board book

~ another board book in Hebrew

~ house from his train set

~ bridge support from his train set

~ milk can from his train set

~ Curious George Visits a Toy Store book

~ All I Am book

~ Mama, Do You Love Me? book

~ Hermie the caterpillar stuffed animal

I'm not kidding or exaggerating or making this up.

Clearly, I need to clean between his bed and the walls more often.

And clearly, the boy LOVES to take stuff into bed with him. Before I tuck him in for naps or at night, he goes around and grabs things to take with him. He'll go to the train table, choose an engine, hold it up, and say, "Beb?" "Yes," I'll reply, "you can have that in bed with you." I guess I started it all when I put books in his crib with him to help along his love of reading. I think it worked, but now it's extended to a love of books...and tractors...and numerous stuffed animals...and trains...and plastic dinosaurs...and one time, I went in to check on him in the night and found several pieces of train track attached to a BIG piece from the Thomas set. It was a bridge that made sound when trains would go under it or trucks would go over top. He's proven that he doesn't mind sleeping with/next to/underneath various hard, noisy objects so I shouldn't have been surprised, I guess.

One Sunday afternoon recently, Jeff laid down in Tobin's bed to snuggle with him and get some sleep. I asked him later, "Did you have a nice nap?" His honest reply was to shrug and say, "Well, he has about a hundred toys in his bed." In other words, not really.

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Oh, Tobin Bear. There is no one like you, and we are so glad God has put you into our family so we can watch you grow and see your personality unfold. You are a treasure, and I love you so much it hurts.

It even hurts worse than sleeping on a wooden block or a metal train. ;-)

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One more thing...my latest recipe for The Foodie Spot is here. Well, it's a recipe AND a bit of a rant; but the recipe is good, even if the rant isn't.