The Quickening

For some reason, I thought pregnancy was supposed to be a wonderful, joyous time...ummm...yeah, no.

[innyvinny]

Hoggie wants to own a professional basketball team called the Beaverton Nikes. He is the most brand aware 5 year old I’ve ever come across. 

[innyvinny]

Mama, sometimes you  just have to let things go.

Hoggie...while we were playing Candy Crush and I was waiting too long to use the candy bomb. This situation did not merit the seriousness with which he said this, so I’ve decided my kid is secretly 30 years old. 

[innyvinny]

I’m a pacifier now…

[innyvinny]

The other day, he was doing this and I said “Hoggie, you know you’ve been gnawing on my wrist since you were a baby? WHY?”

He looked up and me and laughed and went back to gnawing on my wrist. 

He’s still weird. 

[innyvinny]

Hoggie. 

[innyvinny]

It’s been a while. He’s five now. Closer to five and a half. We’ve been through rotating obsessions with Pokemon and the PJ Masks. He thinks he likes adult-geared entertainment more than he actually does since he’ll zone out to PBS Kids shows. I caught him caught up in an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. If you asked him, he’d say he’d like to watch rugby or basketball all day.

Speaking of basketball...and sports in general, he has a knack for keeping up with stats. Kind of like rain man. I think he’s on the spectrum. He’s also very into hotels and traveling places to see them. No he hasn’t actually been in a hotel save for one in Astoria, OR, but the idea drives him to learn geography. I’m not against this. 

He’s in kindergarten and likes art class and music time. He’s made friends although this took longer than expected because he’s kind of in his own world. We still haven’t cut his hair and he’s growing much too fast for my taste. 

Also, we moved to Portland, OR and I’m not sure that was a great idea. This blog isn’t about my brain though...that place has become very scary over the last couple of years. 

I came back to update because as my child gets older and we all experience our individual growing pains, our relationship is changing. I came back to remember those early days when we would giggle and play. He’s still just as funny and still kind of a dick and every bit as dramatic as you’d expect a Leo and an only child to be. 

I love this boy madly. 

[innyvinny]

Heart Melt

I was putting the kid to bed in his room this evening. It was taking a while, so I told him I was going to get up and come back in a few minutes. I got up and made my way to the door.

"Mama, don' leave."

"You want me to stay?"

"Yes."

Who am I to not indulge this adorable creature?

So I go and sit on the bed next to him and he pulls me close, grabs my face, and pats my cheek.

"My frien'. You my frien' mama."

"I'm your friend?"

"Mmhmm."

"Aww. You're my friend, too."

I shed a couple of thug tears as I cuddled up with my little boy, fighting away thoughts of a distant future where he would deny ever having said something so freaking sweet. Then I remembered that I should record this so I can have record of it to prove him wrong.

Long live the internet.

[innyvinny]

Apparently, the kid likes Big Sean…

[innyvinny]

He's three tomorrow.  MY GOD.

[junkfoodchimney]

My dad just said: at your age you’ll probably wanna try a lot of things. Boys, girls, being a girl, being a boy, being punk or goth or spunky. And im okay with that. As long as you don’t come home and tell me youre a republican

[mauridianhallow]

parents who care

[livelaughloveatrandom-deactivat]

Lmfao

[innyvinny]

Basically. I may have already given Hoggie this speech. 

[ethiopienne]

[fuckyeahfeminists]

truth.

[beezsnails-blog]

Children are not possessions. Children are not accessories. Children are not relationship band aids. They are tiny people with the same amount of feelings as an adult.

[edemamemama]

But with less capacity to process, express and healthily contain those feelings when necessary.

Be kind to them.

[forgofamilyforgofriendsx-blog]

[lipstickndynamite-deactivated20]

One of the best mom moments in TV history. I wish more parents knew how important it is to validate their children’s feelings.

[nomoremrnicespice]

Little dudes with big hair appreciation post. I’m ready for cutting off lil babies hair to not be a thing anymore.

[thepoetspace-deactivated2014090]

After his 1 year mark haircut, I won’t be cutting my son’s hair until he asks me to.

[innyvinny]

Let those locks prosper

[cruelladatrille]

There are ppl out here withholding affection from their sons thinking that’s gonna make them men

But what it does is make them grown ass men who can’t handle affection because they never had it before

[innyvinny]

LEARN FROM THIS

[dontbreakthecomb]

[givingmelife]

Here are a few tips that mothers should and need to adopt to help the rest of us feel comfortable.

Tip #1: Use a cover. Every time. There are many fancy ones on the market. Damask. Lace-trimmed. Or how about a swaddling cloth (if it’s good enough to warm the baby Jesus, it’s good enough for your…

[innyvinny]

Free the boob

[humansofnewyork]

"I don’t want to be the mom that my mom was. I have to be very present all the time, and very watchful of any patterns I might be repeating." "What pattern are you most fearful of repeating?" "Shutting him down all the time. Not letting him have a voice."

[innyvinny]

This is so important

[innyvinny]

Today

He's obsessed with watching ABC and phonics songs, and shapes videos on youtube.  Also obsessed with watching people make letters and characters with Play-Doh on youtube. 

Youtube is my child's obsession.  He wakes up asking to watch "ABC song" and, if allowed, will watch them for every waking hour of the day.

Not sure if this is ok (since he's technically learning) or not (since he's on an iPad ALL DAMN DAY). 

He's also all-but-the-wipe potty trained, landed himself 5 stitches and a scar on his lip that has him questioning his appearance, and only wants to eat bananas. 

His favorite song to sing is the one about monkeys on the bed.  He acts it out.  It's cute.  When he can't act it out he grabs something and makes the song about that thing instead of monkeys.  This morning, it was a straw.

Favorite random word to yell out: pentagon.  Which sounds more like BEN-Ta-GOOOOOOOOOOOON!

He also knows more foods than he actually eats. If he doesn't want to eat it, he says "eat it, mama. it's DEEEElicious!" but never eats it.  

Wasting food is the highest sin one can commit.  If a piece of banana falls on the ground, he won't eat the rest of the banana.  He will have a shit fit and cry and be depressed, but he won't eat the banana.

He plays harmonica but only if no one is really watching him. 

That's all I can think of for now.  This is going way too fast.