Agitated??

Theo was crying today and Jack asked me:

Mommy, what do you think is causing Theo to be so agitated?

Agitated??? What 2 year-old uses the word agitated? Is this what I get for marrying Charles? I should have known when we were dating and he sent me a 5 page typed letter that required me to get the dictionary out 3 times that this might be in store!

And here is a fun picture of Theo when he is not 'agitated' -

Spanking the disciples' bottom

Last night Charles was reading the Bible to Jack - specifically the story from Matthew 18 and 19 of the disciples arguing over who is the greatest. Some times when we read the Bible to Jack we are unsure how much he is actually understading. Well, last night he was getting some of it for sure. Here is the excerpt:

Jack: Those guys are fighting!
Charles: Yes, they are arguing.
Jack: Someone needs to spank their bottom.
Charles: I think Jesus is going to do something just like that.

An Opinion

One of Jack's favourite activities is to go to the library. We try to go about every other week. In fact, he often gets really sad when we tell him that we have to give some of the books back. He will often request that we ask the librarian if we can keep at least one book. After I ask the librarian and she gives her approval for us to check the book out again Jack acts as though the lady has just given us a million dollars. He gets so excited exclaiming - We can. We can. The lady says we can take it again!

Well last time we were at the library, I noticed that the library was having a story telling time of Charlie and Lola books which are some of Jack's new favourites. So I signed us up. I really talked this story time up to Jack. It was definitely the most anticipated event of the day. I even decided to make it extra special and memorable by taking the bus to it. When the time came, we loaded up the stroller and headed off for the bus stop in a pretty steady drizzle. Jack got so excited when he spotted bus number 307 headed our way. We loaded the bus and were off to the library.

Well, you might be anticipating this, but the story time did not meet my high expectations. Jack was the youngest kid there. Most of the kids there were about 5 (although the sign advertised the story time for all ages) and not very well behaved. Jack lasted through a couple of stories and then got up and loudly told me he was ready to go home. I whispered to him that we couldn't go home yet that we needed to wait until the end - hoping to teach him manners (not to mention the fact that I would have been embarrassed to get up in the middle and walk out). Jack did decently well the rest of the time. At the end we exited and on the way out I asked Jack, did you like it? Did you have a good time? To which Jack looked up and said - No, Not really.

It was one of the first times I liked the fact that Jack was saying NO. I loved the fact that he had an opinion. He was right. It wasn't that great. This was partially due to the kids interrupting the story teller at least twice each page, but mostly because Jack wasn't the right age. We will have to try story time again in a couple of years, but until then we will keep riding bus 307 because that was the big win of the day.

Sing your Praises to the Lord

I was visiting with a friend the other day and she reminded me of a story that happened almost exactly a year ago. I loved being reminded of it and thought it was worth blogging about. So here it is.

As you can probably tell from previous postings, Jack really enjoys music. He really has loved singing and listening to music from just a few months. When he was just learning to talk, he would often tell us 'more guitar' when he wanted to listen to music. For a long time he referred to all music as 'guitar'. In fact, he was also known for being quite impatient, and would start chanting 'more guitar' in between tracks on a CD - not aware that a new song was already on its way.

His love for music and his impatience both showed up while we were visiting churches last year. We visited quite a few churches in North London before settling on a church home. One church that we visited was going through a transition period where the new vicar was trying to bring in some new ideas - including new music. This particular church had a choir that consisted of 'four-ish' elderly people. The choir was trying really hard but they couldn't impress our nearly two-year-old. Right as they started to sing 'In Christ Alone' by Staurt Townend, Jack quickly perked up and loudly said 'No more guitar. No more guitar.'

Most of the time we have been pleased that Jack's language has been fairly advanced and decently understandable. This was not one of those times. Charles and I quickly said shh! Our friends who were sitting next to us could barely hold their laughter in. The only reassuring thing is that I think the choir members were old enough that they probably weren't able to hear Jack's loudly expressed opinion for which I am glad.

I use to have a poster on my bedroom door when I was a kid that said 'Sing your praises to the Lord - even if they are a little off tune.' This poster seems as though it might have been written for this particular situation. Charles and I laughed later - not because Jack yelled out so loud but because he was SO RIGHT!

Rolling Ball

The following are two conversations Charles had with Jack today.

While getting ready for a Fellowship Group Social -

Charles: Come on Jack, put your shoes on. We need to get the ball rolling.
Jack: I don't want to roll the ball.
Charles: You cannot go to the party without your shoes on.
Jack (clearly still interested in the 'ball'): I want Daddy to roll the ball.

After the social...

Jack (looking at some of his construction toys): I am making it all new.
Charles: That is what God says, He will make all things new.
Jack (nodding his head): Yeah, I make all things new too.