Pretty ladies and proddy men.

On our way into the gym this morning, Turner walks past the pool and says, "Mom? Why are there no pretty ladies in the pool?" Sometimes when we pass the pool there is a water aerobics class going on. The "ladies" in the pool often include men, but rarely is anyone in the pool under the age of fifty. Anytime Turner passes by, he waves to them and yells a hello. Generally, the entire pool of women will oooooh in unison.
When we leave the gym, there are six or seven women in the pool and one man . . . again everyone is of the age to be eligible for social security benefits. As we near the gate, Turner leaves his face through the bars and says, "Hey pretty ladies!" He's never called them pretty before, nor has he ever referred to them as ladies before (except, of course, when we walked into the gym). The pool riots. The gentleman says, "Hey buddy. I'm no lady." A woman beside the gentleman elbows him and says "You got that right." Turner pulls his face back from the gate and waves. The pool waves back in unison and the leader says, "He's so cute." Yes.
We are walking to the car and I say to Turner, "Those ladies said you were cute."
He stops walking and says, "I'm not cute."
"Oh I think you are super cute." He starts walking again. "Well if you aren't cute then what are you? Handsome?"
"No. I'm a four year old now. I am not cute! I am not handsome!" he extends his arms to his sides as he says each of these statements. "I am just old and proddy."
"Old and proddy?"
"Yeah. And don't you even ask me what that is either."

Nanny's visit.

From Easter

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/COdKrdbvoeH-vZrBjNIPbg?feat=directlink
(In case embedding the slideshow doesn't work)



My mom arrived Tuesday and was able to stay until today, Easter. Turner and I were very sad to see her go. She worked the entire time she was here doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, and driving all over Tucson running my errands and dropping me off a million different places. Turner got to cut school and load up on Nanny time.

We go to drop Mom off at the airport. You've all been to the Tucson airport. It is pretty much empty always. As we pull away, Turner yells "I love you Nanny" out the car window, his voice echoing off the concrete. "Have a safe trip Nanny. I'll miss you Nanny" and so on until we pull away from the curb. At the stop light, a minute down the road, Turner says, "I really do love Nanny."
When we get home from the airport, John (tutor-ee) came over to work on his Jane Austen paper. He brings him a huge (yes, huge) chocolate bunny. We take this bunny to Kilan's grandma's house. After the boomerang, the easter egg hunt, the eating of the eggs, the blueberry cobbler (incredible!), I crack the bunny on the counter and give Turner an ear. Kilan eats a foot. We rush off home, and as we cross Broadway Turner says, "Do you think Nanny will be at home when we get there?"

Birthday photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Amandabwray/TurnerSBirthday?feat=directlink

Turner's Birthday

Funny things I heard today . . .

Sometimes, I get lazy. Turner had a great time at his birthday party with his friends. I want to tell you all about it, but I'm beat. So, I offer some of the quotes that I can remember from Turner that made me laugh.

"You know Mom. This woulda been much better if you hadn't forgotten that thing [referencing the ramada reservation, which we had to drive back to the house and get fifteen minutes to party-time]." My response, Yeah I know. His, "Oh well. Great job Mom even if you can't remember anything ever."

"All my friends are so great." First thing Turner says when we pack everything back into the car and are pulling away. (Then Andy starts honking horn because I'd left a gallon of tea on the trunk of the car.)

"It is juice [in reference to a chewy piece of dried fruit kids get at Trader Joe's]. Mmmmmm. Don't worry. This will all hydrogenate me Mom." I had said hours earlier he should drink water to hydrate since our allergies are kickin' so high.

"Wow. I guess I needed some refreshment." This is at dinner. He sits down to a tall glass of milk. He downs it in a moment. Then turns to his brussel sprouts and pizza. "Ahhh What are these?" I cut them up for you. "What do they taste like?" Inside is crunchy Outside is less so. Kinda like broccoli without the stem. "Oh." He eats two bites. Then he starts pulling at it, eating it layer by layer. "Yeah. I've not had these before. Well maybe I have." another moment of two. "I like these. And, I liked them before didn't I?" Yes. You did (I just didn't call them brussel sprouts either time). "So what are they?" They are broccoli without a stem. Special broccoli. "Ah." So, Jack, you can continue to hate brussel sprouts but these special broccoli things are good for growing boys. :)

A FOUR year old.

Andy dropped Turner off at my house around 8 AM so I could make him a birthday pancake breakfast before school. When he got here, however, he was not interested in pancakes. I mentioned donuts and it was settled. While we were at the donut shop some lady backs into our car (she barely bumped it, but she was backing into it slowly for several minutes while two of us in the parking lot waved our hands in the air and yelled at her to stop). Turner was in the backseat watching. After the woman pulls a safe distance from us, Turner climbs into his seat and says, "Wow Mom. That was real scary." And, of course, he did the head nod.
We head to the grocery to secure another dozen cupcakes for birthday party number one (location: Turner's school at snack time). Sadly these cupcakes get turned upside down before they arrive at his school. But, the kids didn't seem to notice. The frosting was made with this bright blue and green food coloring that stained the kids' faces and hands. Before Turner finished eating, his hands looked as though he'd been finger painting. It will be interesting to see how such food dye affects his insides in the coming days.

So, party number two happened tonight. We went to "chicks fil E" for some waffle fries, chocolate milk, and chicken. Turner made several new friends there, and he did not miss the opportunity to remind everyone he was now a four year old. We coax Turner out of the playland with reminders about birthday presents and cake.
I have asked Turner several times what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and his answer was unwavering: White cake with white icing that has a Turner on top ice skating. I couldn't understand why this kid - who loves chocolate so deeply - would want a white cake. But, I made it. And, I made two frostings for it because the first one didn't work out as planned (I'm sure Chiara can attest to my love/hate relationship with frosting-making).
I bought these cool candles for Turner’s birthday last year that spell out “Happy Birthday.” I didn’t use them last year because I stashed them away somewhere and couldn’t locate them day of. So, I put them on his 4 year old cake instead, and it was high fire this year.
Andy cuts the cake and Turner takes a bite.
“Ewwww. I don’t like that icing. I wanted chocolate cake.”
Man . . . He doesn’t eat more than one bite of it. Perhaps it will taste better to him tomorrow. I thought it tasted just fine (though I think we all would have preferred chocolate).
We get to do presents next, and Turner was not disappointed.
We found the bike first.
Then we played hot/cold in the kitchen to locate the sword.
Yes, that sword is made of solid wood. Yes it is nearly as tall as our very tall four year old. And, yes I think Andy and I are going to regret the decision to purchase such a large and well-crafted sword. He LOVES it though, and he was so very excited that he got it.

After I read him a story I ask what his favorite part of the day was. He says, “It was all of my favorite parts.” Watching him today felt magical.