Birthday, Easter, Baby Blessing & Visitors

Well, if that title line doesn't explain my lack of posts!

With all these backup posts to do, all I feel like writing about is Dallin's first t-ball game tonight! He was so excited. Isn't he darling? And though I tried to modify his Cardinals jersey so it fit, when he tucked in the number 9 on his back, all you could see was the top of the 9 looking more like "0." He was the youngest and smallest on the team, but he did great.

He hasn't been to any practices, so he went straight into a game. There's lots to learn! A couple of times during the one hour game, I went to talk to him in the dugout and he was crying--he told me he wanted to go home. During one of these crying spouts, I told him to go ask his coach where he should go in the field; his coach told him, but Dallin had no idea where to go...Dallin stood there until his coach walked him out to where he should go.

He went up to bat three times and two times he got on base. (His first time up they threw him out which I was soo sad about..) The coach gave Dallin the game ball and he got a licorice rope from the snack shack so the night ended in success. BUT, later in the evening I understood why he was crying.

"Mom, they put me in timeout."

"No, you were in the dugout--you weren't in timeout."

"No mom, I was in TIMEout."

"Were other people in timeout?"

"A couple."

Dallin insisted he was in timeout. I explained it many times but who knows if he'll ever believe me. No wonder he was crying a couple of times!

Go cardinals!

"I want four brothers"

Today Dallin showed me this:

This is pretty exciting because his drawings show recognizable figures! But what's not-so-exciting is that Dallin has declared that this is him with all his brothers: "I want four brothers." That's right..count 'em up..that would be five little boys. I don't know about that. Actually, what am I saying...That is crazy!!

This drawing was better than the one I got two weeks ago at church. After class Dallin shared a picture of what he was thankful for. Pictured was Dad, Thad and himself. hmmm...Where was I?! Probably because he's so extremely grateful to me that it wouldn't be fair to put the other family members in the same sphere. I'll tell myself that anyway until I get on the "grateful" picture.

Dallins Theft

Dallin and I were at Kinkos Friday afternoon dropping off a project. We waited quite a bit, all the while Dallin asked if we could buy Air Heads...then it was Tic Tacs...then it was gum; you get the idea. I continued the "no...no...no candy...no Dallin" so many times he took things into his own hands. Distracted with my conversation with the Kinkos lady, I look down at Dallin only to see the outlines of a box of air heads on his chest beneath his shirt. I promptly explained that we do not put candy under our shirts and reiterated "no candy!"

A short while later, we go trotting out to the car. I load Thad and come around to clip the bottom of Dallin's car seat when he proudly pulls out a treasure from beneath his shirt: a pack of mentos. "Look mom!" he proudly says. I feel a teaching moment coming... And before the moment begins, I know this one will not be forgotten (flashbacks to my theft at Albertsons when I was 3/4...traumatic) so I proceed carefully.

Even though I had just spent six minutes lugging the boys and strapping them into the car, I pulled everyone out and we braved the rain back into Kinkos. Dallin put the mentos back on the shelf and we waited to get the Kinko lady's attention. She came over. I explained what had happened.

Me: "Dallin, say sorry. Dallin. Say sorry. Dallin...say sorry...."
Dallin: (whispered under breath, not making eye contact while holding my hand) "Sorry."
And then me holding back tears because he was slightly scared, and I believe understanding that he had done something really wrong prompt him again: "Say I won't do it again."
Dallin: (again whispered) "I won't do it again."

The lady was very nice and didn't say anything.

We walked outside and Dallin said to me "Mom, my eyes are stinging, my eyes are stinging." He was crying. We had a nice hug, I told him how proud I was of him, etc. It was a sweet moment. Though he was being reprimanded, my own tears were just below the surface as I watched my sweet three-year-old understand and feel sorry for his actions; I felt his sadness.

Ah, the moments with a three year old! I love this boy.