A Night with Elwood

The weekend after the Christmas parade, I had the greatest of joys-- I got to have Elwood spend the night with me!!!

On Friday I met Megs in Wabasso and picked up my boy! We headed to the farm and I got to spend the entire afternoon with Elwood. We had a picnic, played trains, built a fire and burned sticks, played chase and hid from monsters. We rode the golf cart over to the canal bank and watched, as Elwood described it, one enormous, gigantic  machine chop up pepper trees...we were both mesmerized by the noise and the whole process of chopping and shredding- And the operator of the machine stopped and talked with us--I found out the chopping bucket alone on the machine costs $35,000. No pictures--I was too busy playing.

Elwood is a joy to hang out with. Not only is he adorable with his long blonde surfer hair, but he is so nice. He is polite and kind and has a vivid imagination. Amazing how many games can be played with just a stick! He has full conversations with me, but I also discovered he remembers and repeats every thing you say. And he has the most endearing little lisp--he pronounces his Ls like Ws. Garlic is garwic.

I found I say Holy Mackerel a lot.... hawie mackerwa....

And he knows all the names of Santa's reindeer!

Meghan feeds him the healthiest organic food, but she lets me give him treats-just not too many.  I am writing this so I never forget some of the cute things he said this weekend. He can spy a jar of

M & Ms hidden on a top shelf. After getting a few and being told, "You can have more later", I watched as he quietly devised a plan on how to get his hands on more.  He is devoted to his family. So he starts with, "Can I have an M & M to hold for my Dad?"

"Sure...", says Oma, "let's get a container to hold it in."

 "Can I have one for my Mom?"

"Sure..", says Oma.

 "Can I have one for my baby sister?"

"Oh my, of course you can have one for your baby sister that will be born in April 2015--in fact, you can have several for that request!"

That night after rocking, cuddling, and reading Elwood's favorite Christmas book of stories and songs-(wish everyone could hear him sing Jingle Bells) he went peacefully to sleep with assurance that Mom and Dad were coming in the morning for breakfast. At 4:20 am he woke up quietly crying for mommy.  I  race to him. I pick him up and he continues to cry for mommy. I hug him and rock him and tell him I understand how he feels. I tell him sometimes I miss my mommy too, but I know she likes for me to be a big girl and do fun things without her. He settles down in my arms as I sing Christmas carols--he starts to doze and I ask him if I can put him to bed and rub his back while he falls to sleep. He opens his eyes, rubs my arm, and says, "Oma, I have a plan. How about you and me just go get our mommies."  

Oh my, be still my heart!!!'