Daddy Sing a Song, and more

Putting Jack to bed is occasionally challenging, because we aren't always good about keeping to a routine, and since we both enjoy doing it we go back and forth, and on and on. Sometimes we put him down and he wails, but rather than a vague, frustrated wail, it's usually something specific, like

"Daddy sing a song!"

I'm not a particularly good singer; I'm sure most would agree. But Jack, because he's young and inexperienced, enjoys my warbling attempt at Edelweiss, and now Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So sometimes it's "Daddy sing Edelweiss," and other times, "Daddy sing Rudolph!" (On the particularly bad nights, he'll want me to sing a song, and THEN he'll want Mommy to sing a song...we try to avoid those ones.)

Anyway, there's something very heartening about his little voice piping up "Daddy sing a song," or, as I'm bringing him upstairs to bed, "Sing a song?" And better yet, he chimes in, singing along to Edelweiss ("bloom.....an grow.....for-ev...er...." "you.... happy .... meet me....") Frequently as the song ends, he says, "Again?" And we go again.

What's amazing is that he already knows a surprising number of the words to Rudolph. Tonight I heard him singing it with his Mommy: "hadda very sy-nee nose... AND if ever saw it...."

Good stuff. As of yet, I'm not tired of singing those songs over and over to him. Not sure I ever will be.

PRE-CHRISTMAS

Jack's getting into Christmas. It's quite amusing, that he used to fear Santa, and maybe still does, but he also loves pictures of him, and Rudolph, and Frosty the Snowman. He has a couple of little toys, a little wind-up Santa and Frosty that we've had for years, that he's fascinated with. We have a couple of window decorations that he takes out of the windows and carries around the house; they're of Santa and Frosty, and he likes to lay them down, pretend they're sleeping, whatever. He stacks them up into a tower ("Tower of Power," he calls it, a Backyardigans reference), plays with them, says they're "friends." He has a Santa hat he occasionally puts on and walks around wearing; it's big and slips over his eyes, and so he walks a little slower.

He points to snowman and Santa ornaments on the tree; points out pictures in his Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer book (his current favorite book); brings me his drawing board and wants me to draw pictures of "Rudolph, Santa, Frosty, and the Christmas tree." I think everyone in the family down here has read him the Rudolph book.

(At this point I should mention that last week we went to the Greenwich tree lighting, and there was a person in a Rudolph costume there. This is before I'd got him the book. Jack was transfixed; we went up near him and I put Jack down, and Rudolph's elf helper said, "Do you want to hug Rudolph?" Jack did a little half nod and threw out his arms and went up to Rudolph and gave him a big hug. It was classic.)

One final Jack thing, not necessarily Christmas related. Last night we were sitting in the living room near the tree, and Jack started bringing us his toys. "Hold. Hold, Daddy." And then he started bringing us our shoes. And our jackets. And then he came in clutching the two basketballs we use for his hoop outside. So we're sitting there in a pile of stuff, and he's like "Be right back," and he'd come in with yet another item. Just funny.

I'm sure there are other recent things I don't want to forget -- like when he saw a picture of himself from the zoo and he said "I'm at the zoo," even though there was nothing in the picture to indicate it was at the zoo. Like when his grandma was cracking him up by saying "gook," in reference to food on his cup. And things I can't even remember, sadly, which means I really need to write this blog more than once a week.

He's a great little guy.