Friday I'm In Love

Dave is gone for many nights this week so I'm looking for new and adventurous things to do with both boys. Our garage is now chock-full of various transportation options. Some of you may recognize this jeep double stroller; Zach is big enough to go in the front-facing way now, which is exciting for everyone (at a time when the littlest thing can excite us). We also have a new Sit N' Stand stroller, which allows the older kid to either sit facing backward or stand up and "drive" it forward on a little standing board. It cracks me up that Luke can't seem to remember the name of the stroller; he'll tell people, "This is our new stroller. It's called a sit...a stand...a stroll...what is it called again, Mommy?"

Luke has had a little toddler rebellion thing going on for the past few weeks, which has been trying to say the least. The day after the dead-fish-on-the-pier meltdown, he must have remembered me saying something about me being the boss, because he announced, "Mommy, I'm the voss. You say you're the voss but I'm the voss." I figured I was supposed to be mad at that, but the only way I could keep from laughing was to agree with him. "OK, you're the voss. It's just that I am the boss. So you need to remember that."

This week, however, Luke has sailed into the sweetest of all moods: he's happy to help around the house and he is quick to apologize the moment I seem less than thrilled with his behavior. What was it that turned the tide? I don't know but I'm just going to try to keep everything exactly the same for as long as possible to keep this little alien visitor with us. Last night I pulled out Dave's and my wedding album, which Luke and I hadn't seen in ages, and Luke and I curled up on the couch to read it together. He was particularly taken by the picture of all of the male members of the wedding party - all of the uncles, grandpas, and friends we love. "Those are all of my favorite men!" he declared. "Yes - it was a great party. You would have loved it," I told him.

Oh, and Zach has really become a laugher. How sweet is that? The two people who can consistently get him to laugh the most are Dave and Suzi. Dave has to say something very specific, along the lines of "Goodley-goo!" to get him to crack up, but when he does, it's magic.

Not entirely related, but somewhat related: When Luke and Dave listen to music together in Dave's car, the playlist is carefully edited for musical authenticity, lyrical appropriateness, and cultural diversity. But when Luke is in the car with me, he gets pretty much whatever happens to be on the radio (Luke put some spare change inside my CD player more than a year ago, and we haven't gotten around to fixing it, but that's another story). Last week we heard "Friday I'm in Love" by the Cure, and out of the blue, Luke declared, "That's my favorite song." So Dave had to download it and put it on the Ipod, and we've been watching the video on YouTube, and listening to it over and over again in every possible venue, but the funny thing is, it's really one of my favorite songs too, and at this point I don't think I can get tired of hearing it. Doesn't it just make the day seem all dreamy?