beasty boys

Ben-- I've been struggling with Benny Boy lately. I am not sure if it's his age or what, but after ten years, he's finally getting under my skin. It's not that he's disobeying, necessarily.. although he knows very well how to push his brother's buttons. But he's just annoying me-- without even trying. He's constantly making weird noises or blowing spit bubbles with his mouth. It seems like he has a million and one questions and he always asks them when I am right in the middle of something important. I honestly don't lose my patience often, but Ben can hum just the right tune or make the perfect annoying sound that will just set me off. I am sure pregnancy has made it much worse, but I've been snapping at Ben quite a bit lately. The other day, he spoke all his words in the tune of "we're off to see the wizard" and I about lost my marbles. Maybe I expect him to be perfect all the time.. but he has definitely noticed a difference in our relationship. The other day, Luke and Zack were fighting about something silly and they wanted me to take sides.. But before they got to me, Ben stopped them and said, "Let me settle this. I wouldn't mess with Mom right now... if you know what I mean." When I overheard that, I just started laughing. The poor kid knows more than I think he does. I really can't be too hard on Ben because he is still SUCH a great kid and he's still unbelievably overprotective and helpful. One night while we were making dinner together, he told me he really wanted to talk about something. I was gearing up to be annoyed by one of his long, drawn out explanations over a cartoon or computer game.. but he got a bit emotional and said, "I was just thinking that if anything ever happened to any one of our kids, it's should be ME." I asked him what he meant by this and he explained, "Well, if one of us were to get kidnapped or hurt, it should be me. I've already spent the most time with you and dad. I would know the best how to contact police or get myself out of a bad situation. And I would just be sick if something happened to Simon or Zack because they probably wouldn't even have any memories of being in our family." I thought it was just so darling... his cute freckled face is growing up so quickly! I am sure I am being too hard on him and need to give the poor ten year old a break! He stresses about enough as it is. Luke-- this happened last month, but every time I think about it, I feel bad for not having it written down. Sometime during the week, in the middle of the afternoon, my phone kept ringing. I often misplace my cell phone, but it's not that hard to find-- especially when it's ringing. My husband has his own special ring (which is Rihanna's "please don't stop the music") When the phone blasts that song, my kids know that Daddy is calling. Anyway, this particular afternoon, Aaron kept calling.... over and over... but I couldn't find my phone ANYWHERE. I had all four boys around and we were looking everywhere-- under the couches, in between the cushions, inside the drawers.. and it was no where to be found. Each time it rang, the more anxious I got because Aaron hardly EVER calls me during the day and he's never called me over and over and over, so I knew something was majorly wrong. After about twenty minutes or so, it stopped ringing.... and about twenty minutes after that, I found my phone sitting on the counter. I quickly checked the messages to see who had died or if the world was going to end, but there were no messages. And oddly enough, there were zero missed calls. What? The kids were around, and so I asked them who found my phone and if they had erased any messages. That is when Luke finally cracked a smile and said, "Gotcha, mom." He didn't explain much, but after several questions (and lots of laughing) I got him talking. He just felt like playing a trick on me, went into my cell phone music archive and continued to play Daddy's ring tone. He held the phone behind his back and watched me frantically look for it each time the song played. I can't believe he kept a straight face the whole time... so funny and so Luke. I told him that was an awesome prank, but if he ever does it again, he's grounded. Zack-- I wish I could carry a video camera around with me and keep it on Zack 24 hours a day. It's so hard to capture the funny things he says because it's more about his expressions and tone than what actually comes out of his mouth. He puts so much ZEST into everything he does. On the way home from church today he told Ben to stop doing something or else he'd become his worst nightmare... the scary monster voice he said it in was awesome. Last week at dinner, I noticed he was closing both eyes very tightly while stabbing his fork all around his plate. I thought he was pretending to be blind while trying to eat--- but I didn't say anything to him because I wanted to let it play out. By the time he got the attention from everyone at the table, he opened his eyes, looked at his fork, got a big smile and said, "Oh yeah! Random food!" We all started laughing more at the way he said it and because he was so excited to be eating whatever kind of food he'd captured with his fork. Aaron and I commented how lately he's been using words too big for him, but that he always seems to use them in the right context. Something in that random brain of his is working after all! Simon-- has become quite the handful. Haven't I been saying this for months? Well, he's getting worse by the minute. He is just as hyper as Zack ever was, but he's also very stubborn and really hard to reason with. I don't know if he's just so cute that I always end up giving in to his tantrums or if it's that I am pregnant and just don't have the energy to keep up with him. He gets his way 99% of the time. It's awful. But when he's happy, he's so adorable and loving and so cute that we all forget about what a stinker he really is. He makes big messes, won't go to sleep for anything and hates riding in his carseat. He thinks he's much older than he is and wants to be doing EXACTLY what his older brothers are doing. He ruins their lego creations, climbs up on the top bunk in the middle of the night, and demands to sit at the table during meals. No more high chair for him... which really means I have a MUCH bigger mess to clean up after dinner. He insists on drinking out of a cup instead of a bottle or sippy and literally FREAKS OUT if I drop the kids off somewhere and he doesn't get to join them. He is growing up so quickly and probably senses that someone else is coming into the family to play the baby role. He ain't no baby no more. Last week while we were camping, Aaron and I left my boys with my sister who was playing with the kids at the playground. We thought about taking Simon with us to the campground, but decided to leave him at the last minute.... my sister didn't get that memo. She thought he was with us so she didn't miss him when he ran off. When we came back 20 minutes later, Simon was long gone. After ten minutes or so, we found him swimming in the kiddie pool all by himself. Lifeguards were watching him and were aware he wasn't with an adult. But the woman who originally found him wouldn't let me have him back. She gave me a good lecture before she let go of him (I am sure it didn't help that I am 7 months pregnant and can't even keep track of the baby I have.) She said, "He's been with me for 30 minutes. What have you been doing for the last half hour that you didn't know he was missing?" I tried to explain quickly that my sister and I had a misunderstanding, but she wasn't having it. She continued to tell me what a bad mother I was and then said, "By the way, he wouldn't answer ANY of my questions. Every time I asked him anything all he would say was 'Mommy!'" This is when I finally grabbed him out of her arms and said, "Well, he's ONE. Do you expect him to write down his address and phone number?" As she stormed off, the lifeguards told me they all thought he was at least 3 because of his size.. and the fact that he wasn't uncomfortable in the least swimming by himself. I told them if they wanted to see him throw a fit, it wouldn't be at a pool. All you'd have to do is buckle him in his car seat or high chair or tell him he can't have a cookie until after dinner... that will get a reaction out of him every time. Anyway, so glad we found him! This kid is giving me a run for my money..