thank goodness for ebay

Matt and I are a bit tired of frantically searching the house for "Jamie's car". It has become utterly essential to Finn's every sleeping and waking moment. Liam has been telling Finn over and over again that it is not really Finn's car, it is Jamie's. Then he cries that Finn "never shares Jamie's car!"

So what is a parent to do? Go to ebay, and look for another purple scion. It is a 2004 model, so it was not in any of the local stores. Ebay had one dark metallic purple matchbox scion. The price, including shipping, seemed outrageous, but if it bought us a little less stress when trying to find this car for bedtime, it was worth it.

The car arrived in the mail yesterday. A lovely, 2004 scion, in dark metallic . . . red. Unfortunately, Liam saw it, and got all excited to have a scion of his own. The package was opened, the shiny red scion removed, and Liam was thrilled to have his very own Jamie's car. He got a little frantic when he couldn't find it later, and then wanted to take it to bed. So we ended up searching to house for two scions for bedtime. The seller agreed to refund the cost, even though it was opened, but there was no taking it away from Liam.

So now we have two "Jamie's car" to keep track of. Yay. Glad I solved that problem.

Four years old

It is hard to believe that Liam is four years old. I guess we have to stop threatening to not let him turn four if he doesn't dress himself.

He was so excited this morning. I asked him if he felt bigger and he said, "Yes!". A few moments later, he went into his bedroom to look at himself in the mirror. :-) He's really excited to have a birthday party, too.

I guess I'll need to post new pictures, and they are growing so fast, sniff, sniff . . .

Shewiff

Last night was quite a sad scene. Finn had stubbornly insisted on taking Jammie's car to school with him, and then left it there by accident. In the evening, we read stories and then the boys were told it was sleepytime. Both hopped off the couch, and seemed to be marching off to bed, ready and willing. Then Finn turned around, and said, "Jammie's car." It was a statement, but it had the air of decidedness about it that made it clear we were expected to deliver said car promptly. After many tears, we managed to convince Finn to go to bed with a different van. For the next twenty minutes or so, there was quiet sniffling from their bedroom, and then frank crying. I went in to check on them, in time to hear Liam whispering, "You left it at school, Finn. It's okay." Sure enough, he was quietly crying, "Jammie's car." After even more tears, and a pathetic attempt to give him Doc Hudson to sleep with, he went to sleep.

Fast forward to 4am, when loud crying woke the rest of us up. I go in to the boys' room and Finn cries out softly, "Shewiff." It is 4am, and I am in no mood to go and search through the cars for Sheriff. This is getting ridiculous. I press his van back into Finn's hand, kiss Liam, and go back to bed.

We must break this habit.

Bobo's Car

Recently, the boys have developed a new game. Specifically, Finn started it. While driving, or parking, he spots a green jeep. Typically it is of the Ford make, but it can vary. He gets all excited and yells, "Bobo's car!!" I think he really expects Bobo to be in it. Sometimes, he'll see a little red car and do the same thing.

Liam has sensed how sweet we think this is, so he has now started looking for cars that resemble Geof's, and yelling "Bobo's car! Bobo's car!". Of course, poor little Finn gets all excited before realizing that Liam is just playing. And then he starts doing it as well. Soon enough, both boys are playing "Bobo's car" in the backseat. It's quite cute.

Return of Yellow Shirt

Last year, on Liam's third birthday, he dug through his drawers and found his stripey yellow shirt, now a little small, and put it on. He declared, to our amazement, "This is what I wore on my last birthday!" Indeed, he had. It had been his favorite yellow shirt in an era when he would deign to wear a shirt of no other color. The yellow shirt is in many pictures, including his 2nd birthday, which is, we presume, how he remembered.

Fast forward to now, and Finn is wearing 2T shirts. As first, he delighted in being allowed to pull a "new" shirt out of the bag of Liam's hand-me-downs, but then he discovered yellow shirts. It seems it is either a genetic predisposition, or something to do with the age, but Finn also loves the color yellow. Sometimes he requests his "lion shirt" that Nana gave him, which is yellow, but more commonly he requests the yellow shirt. It now has a stretched-out neck, but is otherwise in surprisingly good shape. Maybe he, too, has seen in on Liam in many pictures? Yesterday, as he sat in Liam's former booster chair, wearing the yellow shirt, and sporting a bib that had been Liam's as well, we realized he was exactly the age Liam was when we moved here. How times flies.

Shorts

Since it's been a while since I posted, I thought I'd post a few "shorts".

The New Lovey
Finn has found a new lovey. I'm not entirely sure where he found it, but it is now indispensible. If it falls out of his hand as he is falling asleep, he promptly wakes up and starts to wail rather pitifully. The other problem with this new lovey is that it is not, in fact, his. It is a purple van. And as Finn will tell you happily, it is "Jammie's ban". Instead of the fifty or so other cars in the house, Finn had found the one car that Jamie inadvertantly left at our house, and it is now the most important object in his house. Sigh. Almost as inexplicably, Liam has re-adopted Barney as his favorite lovey.

Phone Manners
I called home the other evening on my way back from work. The phone rang a few times and then, "HELLO!!!!???" It was Liam.
Me: Liam, why are you answering the phone?
Liam, screaming into the phone, so as to make his converstation unintelligible: WE ********* SPRAYERS *********************************** OUTSIDE *****************
Me: What??
Liam repeats something similar.
Me: Can I please speak with Daddy?
Liam: No. He's *******************diaper ****************
Me: Can you ask him a question for me?
Liam: No. pause I'm on the phone right now.
Me: Can you put the phone down and ask him something? [at this point, I am not enjoying having my phone call screened at all]
Liam: Okay.
Me: Please ask him if he wants me to bring anything home from the store.
Liam: Okay. [the phone goes quiet]
After a few minutes . ..
Liam: Mama? Are you there?
Me: Yes, Liam. What did he say?
Liam: Bye, I love you! [he hangs up]
Matt says Liam will now be answering the phone for telemarketers.