It's the Little Things (updated a second time)

Some days you just gotta take joy in the little things. Yesterday Drew gave me two opportunities for such a thing.

1. In the car, waiting in line at Starbucks for a chai I didn't need, Drew, who encouraged me to stay in the line despite its length (I abhor waiting in line!), said, "Mom! On my water bottle there's an uppercase soccer ball and a lowercase soccer ball! And here's an uppercase football and a lowercase football!"

2. At the grocery store, Drew really wanted the fire engine grocery cart. We had to move around some carts to get to it, but that was ok. He got right in and proceeded to "turn on" his siren and "honk" his horn. So around the store we went, with Drew loudly going, "WooooOOOOoooo! wooooOOOOOooooo! AANNNNHHH! AAANNNNHHH! WoooooOOOOOooo!" (That's the best way I can figure out how to spell Drew's fire engine horn noise.) Needless to say, we got looks, smiles, and comments from pretty much everyone we encountered. Some parents might have been embarrassed, but he was just having such a darn good time, and he clearly brought joy to most of the people who saw/heard him, that I couldn't help but enjoy it, too. It was probably good that we didn't need too many things, though.

On a different note, here's another Drew story that isn't necessarily funny or not funny; it's just classic Drew. You may remember that one of Drew's main comfort measures is sucking on his arm. We took his pacifier away when he was about 14 months old, and he started the arm-sucking a month or two later. You can see a picture of it here. For the most part, the arm-sucking is not a big issue, but I also don't want Drew doing it forever. He says he likes it when his arms are cold (they must taste better that way), and he has also told me he sucks on his arm when he's tired. A classic Drewism is, "I sucked on my arm a little, but not too much!" which he sometimes says upon waking up. For a while, Drew would sometimes suck on his arm if he was particularly upset while in a time-out. He'd be yelling, "Get me out of here!!" and then suddenly he'd be silent, and I'd peek at him, only to find him sucking away. In an effort to attempt to gradually break the whole habit, we told him that was not allowed, and that he could only do it while in bed. I've also told him that when he is four. he'll need to stop sucking on his arm. Check back in about a year to see how that's going. I have a feeling I know what it will be replaced with, based on what I've observed in just the last week. First, during a nap last week, I peeked in on Drew. He was dead asleep with his right arm across his face in arm-sucking position and his left hand down his pants. And today, at the end of a time-out, I noticed how quiet he was, and I went to him half-expecting to see his arm at his mouth. Nope; he knows better than that. Instead there was that left hand again, resting comfortably in his pants. How am I going to break THAT habit? Maybe I should go back and encourage the arm-sucking...

Update:

I just had to add this last little Drew story, which took place about 20 minutes ago, only 20 minutes or so after I completed the original post. Drew was sitting on the floor, barefoot, and he said to me, "Mom, that little red dot on my toe, I ate it off." That "little red thing" just so happened to be a scab. Drew couldn't quite understand why I made the funny face that I did, but that is maybe the most disgusting thing I've heard in a very long time.

Update #2:

It is 9:55 p.m. I put Drew to bed and left his room at approximately 8:20 p.m. He just came downstairs, completely wide awake, and said, "Mom- I mean Gloria- after the Easter eggs tomorrow, I know there will be pancakes, but will there be syrup on them?" Yes, move over, Mater. I will now be called Gloria. We had a movie night tonight and watched Madagascar, and the one female character, a hippopotamus, is named Gloria. So I am now Gloria. The last thing Drew and I talked about before we said goodnight was the fact that we are going to an egg hunt tomorrow at the country club, and that afterwards we'll be staying for the pancake breakfast. I guess it was all just so exciting that it's been on his mind for the last hour and a half. So he asked his question, and I answered it with, "I'm sure there will be," and he took a big, excited breath, and scurried (one of his favorite words these days) away, back up to his bedroom. The poor kid will probably be so tired in the morning that he'll be in one of his famous moods for the very cold outdoor Easter egg hunt. Tired Drew + Cold Drew = Crabby Drew. Awesome. I'll let you know how it goes. We may have more scowling pictures to share.