My Buddy

Me and J have been having a renaissance of sorts lately with our relationship. I think it's mostly that he's becoming more and more interesting as a companion, and I'm getting better at dealing with the tantrums and whining. Fridays are my off day, so every week we get a whole day with just the two of us. I know to stay-at-home moms that probably sounds lame--and it sounds even lamer to me, woo-hoo, a whole day with my kid--so I really look forward to Fridays. J is my little buddy now. We lay in my bed in the morning after TH goes to work, watching cartoons or the Today show. Usually at some point, even if it's over 100 degrees outside and uncomfortably warm in the house, J will climb into my lap and tell me, "I'm cold," and then snuggle up to me. I'm not sure why he has to have the excuse of being cold as opposed to saying, "Mommy hug me," but I'll take it. Then I let him decide what he wants for breakfast (same thing every time: "Pancakes! Um, and syrup! And sausage!").

After that...we hang out. Like I used to hang out with my girlfriends in college. Maybe we'll go to Starbucks and have coffee and chocolate milk. Maybe we'll take Mimi on a walk while J talks nonstop about everything he's been wanting to tell me all week while I was away at work -- there's an airplane in the sky, that car looks like Daddy's car, the doggie was barkin' and barkin' and jumped up, the baby was cryin' and then n0-no-no J in timeout! I love listening to him. Sometimes we cruise the mall or Target together, or pick out a craft to do from Michael's. At some point every Friday we end up Doing Art, either painting or gluing or smashing Play Doh into the table. And yeah, we also veg out in front of the TV and watch Cars for the billionth time, and some days we don't even get dressed.

This is what I was looking forward to when I envisioned being a mom. I loved my little baby but I really cherish these moments where I get to see him developing into his own person before my eyes. I often look at him and wonder what he's thinking, what does he think of us, of our life? Now that he can talk, sometimes his answers surprise me. I'm constantly amazed at how his mind works. The other day we were having a Serious Adult Discussion about the economy, and I was telling TH that I'd read a commentary about our huge debt to China, and the author said if the debt was called in we'd all have to learn to speak Chinese. And from across the room, out of nowhere, J said, "Ni-hao!" ("hello" in Chinese, he learned that one from Nickelodeon). We were floored. How does he do that? And then we had a little nervous chuckle, as in, wow, he really listens to everything we say, ha ha better watch our mouths.

It's enough to make me want another one. Eventually.