Boastful Mama!

Andy really enjoys staring out the car window and telling me what the clouds look like.  "I see a big gorilla," he said this morning.  "Next to a fishy!"  I have never once suggested to young Andy- who is not yet three- that sometimes clouds can look like different things.  His cloud-gazing is all his own, and I personally can't help but think that this is a tremendous demonstration of how creative and smart he is.  He's still two!  And he uses imagination to visualize things in other things!  I know plenty of adults who are incapable of that.

I am so proud of Andy and consider him to be very intelligent.  Sometimes, though, I wonder if maybe I would feel this way even if he were a complete dumb ass.  Are there any parents who look down at their young children and honestly think to themselves, "This kid is a total moron."  I have yet to meet a mom who vocalizes this sentiment, but I think it would be reassuring if I did.  This mom and I might become fast friends just so I could have an honest parent in my life who validates my opinion of my own kid.  We would spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about all the stupid things her kid did:  ate the label off a pear, forgot his own first name, got lost in his own bedroom, used butter instead of soap in the bath tub, couldn't find his elbow.  And I would say, "Well, you tried your best, but clearly your son is a natural idiot.  Did I tell you that Andy programmed his own app yesterday and now it's number five in the App Store?  It's bigger than AccuWeather!"

Seriously, though.  I have such pride in Andy and the things he does and says that sometimes I worry that it's too much.  He surprises me, though.  He memorizes songs quickly and sings them to himself.  He dresses himself and has a strong sense of independence.  "I have to go to the bathroom," he said the other day at a restaurant as he slid off his chair. "Be right back!"  If he hears a word he doesn't know, he asks what it means and then retains the meaning.  He listens attentively to stories when read to and is able to answer- and more importantly, ask- questions about the stories- and, sometimes, he memorizes the story and is able to "read" each page back to me.  He understands relationships, of people and objects, and is good at retelling the things that happen to him.  Even if sometimes he gets a little too wound up and has to stutter out his first few thoughts.  His mind works too fast for him sometimes.

See, there I go again with my bragging.

Is it too much?  Is it appropriate?  Am I boastful of too many regular, ordinary things that Andy does?  I guess it's still the shock of watching him grow and become his own person.  After almost three years, I can't get over how fast a human that was once a poppy seed inside a belly is able to comprehend and master tasks.  How is any of this possible?  It seems like it was just yesterday that Andy didn't even exist, that he was just a wish in my heart.

I do have the same sense of wonder with Alex, who at the age of one, is attentive and learning quickly.  If you show Alex how to use a toy, he will imitate you and play with the toy in the fashion you showed him.  Alex is trying hard to speak and communicate- especially if he sees food- and I can see the gears in his brain turning.  He has started walking here and there, a few steps at a time, and the sense of accomplishment on his grinning face is too much to take sometimes.  Alex likes to wave and clap and gets excited to rummage through bins, cabinets, toy boxes, pebbles.  He explores and looks for treasure, and it's still so mind-boggling to me.

I am proud of my boys.  Maybe I won't always feel this proud, but maybe I will.  And perhaps, as my friend, it may be too much to bear at times.  So if I get going about how Andy will one day become an engineer and famous inventor and Alex who may very well become president- you can just tell me to shut up.  Or try to silence me with some medium rare steak with a side of baked potato, that always seems to work, too.