We were all sitting around the dinner table enjoying our first post-holiday meal at home when I'm Yours by Jason Mraz began to play. Ash looked up from his meal and said, "hey mommy, that's the song that came with me!" I guess he thinks of it that way in part because it's one of the songs on the video we made of his first year home with us, and in part because whenever it comes on I take the opportunity to squeeze him as hard as I can and remind him that I am his forever and ever and ever. But it still caught me a little off guard that he considers the song a song that "came with him". Cute or disturbing? Leni doesn't have a song, that I know of at least. She hears a lot of Old McDonald these days, is she going to think that's the song that came with her? Doubtful.
Ash has been an active inquisitor lately. Asking about thinks such as how Leni came from my tummy and what he was doing with us when she was still in my belly (talking about swimming with the sharks in Ecuador is his favorite) and then leaping in to what he was doing while he was in his Ethiopia mommy's belly. Did I do flips while I was in her tummy? Did I move from her belly to her arms to her hands and feet? Trying to explain to an almost 5 year old how a baby just stays put in one tiny little space for 9 months without venturing out to explore the appendages of the mother is significantly more difficult than one would think. And then when we were on the beach in Mexico he'd remind me that we should put more sunblock on Leni because her skin turns red quicker than his skin because he's already dark. He's absolutely more focused on the similarities and differences of his and Leni's beginnings, skin, and hair. And he seems to be completely comfortable with the conversations and all of their content - everything from race to adoption to what our family in Ethiopia is probably doing right at that moment.
Maybe that's why "the song that came with me" has stuck with him. The simplicity that is music somehow provides a calming backdrop to what are in reality emotionally complex moments.
Dear Universe, please continue to bless my son with the capacity to inquire, reflect, and react with the brilliance he does today.
Leni can now say two words other than Mommy, Daddy, and Ashton: More and EIEIOOOOO. She loves to sing. If you start singing and then suddenly stop she'll scream MORE MORE MORE MORE but it comes out more like MOAH? with an upswing to the end of it as though she's posing a question. The adorableness of course persuades the singer to sing more and if they happen to select the all time favorite Old McDonald then watch out, she's got one killer EIEIOOOOO that she's not afraid to blast out, sometimes exactly where it fits into the song and other times just because she clearly feels the composer didn't use the phrase often enough in the song.
Dear Universe, please continue to bless my daughter with the love for music and inability to not start grooving whenever something catchy comes on.
Ash is talking about what he wants to be when he grows up (its a toss up between ice cream truck (the actual truck, not the driver) and paleontologist). Leni is now in a big girl bed. They wake up at 7:00 and walk into our room and say good morning. It's so normal.
We're clearly in need of a little shake up. Be careful what I wish for, right?
Ash has been an active inquisitor lately. Asking about thinks such as how Leni came from my tummy and what he was doing with us when she was still in my belly (talking about swimming with the sharks in Ecuador is his favorite) and then leaping in to what he was doing while he was in his Ethiopia mommy's belly. Did I do flips while I was in her tummy? Did I move from her belly to her arms to her hands and feet? Trying to explain to an almost 5 year old how a baby just stays put in one tiny little space for 9 months without venturing out to explore the appendages of the mother is significantly more difficult than one would think. And then when we were on the beach in Mexico he'd remind me that we should put more sunblock on Leni because her skin turns red quicker than his skin because he's already dark. He's absolutely more focused on the similarities and differences of his and Leni's beginnings, skin, and hair. And he seems to be completely comfortable with the conversations and all of their content - everything from race to adoption to what our family in Ethiopia is probably doing right at that moment.
Maybe that's why "the song that came with me" has stuck with him. The simplicity that is music somehow provides a calming backdrop to what are in reality emotionally complex moments.
Dear Universe, please continue to bless my son with the capacity to inquire, reflect, and react with the brilliance he does today.
Leni can now say two words other than Mommy, Daddy, and Ashton: More and EIEIOOOOO. She loves to sing. If you start singing and then suddenly stop she'll scream MORE MORE MORE MORE but it comes out more like MOAH? with an upswing to the end of it as though she's posing a question. The adorableness of course persuades the singer to sing more and if they happen to select the all time favorite Old McDonald then watch out, she's got one killer EIEIOOOOO that she's not afraid to blast out, sometimes exactly where it fits into the song and other times just because she clearly feels the composer didn't use the phrase often enough in the song.
Dear Universe, please continue to bless my daughter with the love for music and inability to not start grooving whenever something catchy comes on.
Ash is talking about what he wants to be when he grows up (its a toss up between ice cream truck (the actual truck, not the driver) and paleontologist). Leni is now in a big girl bed. They wake up at 7:00 and walk into our room and say good morning. It's so normal.
We're clearly in need of a little shake up. Be careful what I wish for, right?
Wonderful, heart warming and touching. The niverse is still in alignment. Can't wait to get to be a part of this routine soon. Love PC
ReplyDeleteLove that he thinks of the song as the song that came with him- I think it is soulful and poetic- that's what I think!
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