The Birdies are Sing-ing…

When my Dad was a little boy, my Grandma Lennie used to wake him and my Aunt Sheri up in the morning by singing to them:

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until they grumblingly (I imagine) agreed to get out of bed. That was long before the advent of iPhones that you could simply dock in your iHome with a different pre-set alarm for each day of the week and a different pre-programmed iTune to wake you up… and then, of course, they had to walk up hill… both ways…to their one-room schoolhouse… in ill-fitting in snowshoes…

So it’s not hard to envisage that some years later my big brother and I, too, were awakened each morning by the sound of our father singing (in and oddly high-pitched tone):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until we sullenly (I know) agreed to get out of our bunk beds. I guess it’s sort of a family thing.

I realized this because six years ago, when I had my first child, I found myself opening his bedroom door each morning and singing (perfectly in pitch, of course):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, twee-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until he opened his sweet little eyes and smiled at me. (He’s only six now so he hasn’t figured out yet that it’s really not fun to get up early in the morning… there are still too many Pokémon to be played with at this juncture in his little life.)

When Beck’s brother was born two years after him – things didn’t change much other than the fact that I was way more tired in the morning and maybe not quite as “chirper” as I used to be. I just started singing for two each morning:

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" And it generally got the desired results.

Until this morning…

Yo see, now-a-days we all generally go to bed in our own bunk beds but we ultimately wake up together in a big pile of arms and legs in one king sized bed in the morning. (Okay, sometimes, Mommy or Daddy wakes up on the couch in the nook if some boy or other decides to play Karate Kid in his sleep… but generally we’re a team. Mommy and Daddy aren’t complaining– we figure we’ll take what we can get now… they won’t be climbing into our bed to snuggle when they’re in high school. We hope...)

This morning, Beck came up later than usual. The iPhone had already finished its third or fourth round (but who’s counting) on the snooze “button” and Caden and I were lazing in bed avoiding the inevitable. In fact Caden was still asleep (an alarm does nothing for a four year old that went to bed too late.)

So while Beck was cuddling with him… I asked him to start singing in his brother’s ear to wake him (passing on the family tradition, you know):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" He sang his little heart out. And he got nothing but a couple of groans and a thumb popped back into Cade’s mouth in response. (Bonus! No finger up the nose… not this time anyway.) So, since Beck didn’t get the response he was trying to illicit… he changed tactics… with extremely effective results:

“The birdies are toot-ing… Tootie, toot, toot-toot… Tootie, toot-toot…Tootie, toot-toot…!"

Yep, Dad. I’ve got two boys… and they’re ALL BOY.
My apologies in advance to my future grandchildren…
Thanks for the memory. I miss you.

Special Friends and Grandparents Day at School

Nana and Grandpa Coskran came to school on Friday to visit Beck and Caden's classrooms. Each year the students open their classrooms to their special guests and enjoy a snack with them and share their work with them.

Nana was specially invited to read the editorial she wrote for the Star Tribune in January. Beck recited "A Time to Rise" to everyone when she was done with her reading.

Both boys were really proud to have their Nana take center stage at circle time.

The other grandparents and special friends really liked Great Grandma Betty's idea too!

Rudolph WHO?

Left to Right: Aunti Sheri, Great Grandma Lennie, Grandpa Ek, Great Grandpa Rudy

Earlier this week, Beck and Caden were sitting at the breakfast table, waiting for me to finish making their pancakes and pondering some very existential thoughts - for preschoolers, anyway. It all began like this...

Beck woke up earlier than the rest of the family that Sunday morning and went down to his "office" to color some pictures for us while he patiently (uh-huh, seriously, I really said patiently) waited for the rest of the house to wake. He made one for himself, one for Caden, one for Mommy and one for Daddy. When I finally crawled out of bed to make breakfast, he moved his creative genius to the kitchen to continue his work and await his flapjacks. He informed Caden and I that he'd be making more pictures for the rest of his family since he'd be seeing them over the holidays... starting with Grandpa Ek since he wouldn't really get to see him.

Now, my dad has been gone for over two years, but I try to keep his memory alive in the boys since they were so young when he passed away. So whenever they present me with an opportunity I jump at it. Today, in that vein, I quickly snatched a picture off of the board in the kitchen and showed it to them. It's a picture of my Dad and Aunt Sheri with my Grandparents, Lempi and Rudolph Ek. Dad probably wasn't much older than Beck in the photo...

The following conversation then took place:

Me: "Beck, do you want to SEE a picture of Grandpa Ek when he was just about your age? Here, look."

I handed Beck the picture.

Beck: "Uh-huh..."

Caden: "I wannoo see too!"

Me: "And look, there's Aunti Sheri and your Great Grandma Lennie. She was MY Grandma!"

Beck: "YOUR Grandma?"

Caden: "Whet me SEE!!"

Me: "Yes, now let Cade see too... and that man there, that's your Great Grandpa Rudolph. We called him Grandpa Rudy."

Beck: "Grandpa Rudolph?"

Me: "Uh-huh. He was your Grandpa Ek's daddy."

Caden: "WHET me SEE!!!!"

Beck FINALLY passes the picture to Caden...

Caden (with brows furrowed): "But MOMMY! Where are his antwers?????"

As the World Turns

Picture this:

Sweet little, recently turned three year old, Caden Charles Sosa is sitting properly and quietly at the dinner table, as usual (ah-hem), having just eaten his entire meal without a single complaint (ah-hem) patiently (ah-hem, ah-hem) awaiting his turn at the "Who am I" game that ensues.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere... He pounds his little fists on his sea life place mat on either side of his big boy dinner plate, which is clear of every morsel, of course, (ah-hem) and yells: "DAMN IT!"

Alex and I look at each other with shock and amusement, and ask him what he just said again... and again he says "Damn It!" with just a little less force behind it and an “uh-oh, I might be in trouble look” to boot.

Do we laugh...(OH YES! But very quietly)?

Do we chastise him...(Yes, but not very hard)?

How do we explain to our little ape that it's not okay to say that... ?

Even if Grandpa Chuck (around whom the earth rotates) does !!?