Beach boy

Seth has a new passion besides trains (finally!). It's the beach. (Nowit's confirmed, he is both Grandpa's boy AND Grandma's.) Actually, the beach has been a huge hit with all of the kids the last couple of weeks. First we went to the beach in North Carolina. Seth was simply insatiable. He even wanted to go out into the water by himself, and he is the one who usually has to be coaxed to try new things. Not so with the ocean! When we went back to the beach house (we were visiting some friends at my high school reunion, at a house they were renting on the beach), Seth kept begging for the next two hours. "I want go beach!" When we came outside to get in the car and go back to where we were staying, he set off by himself (this is just not Seth) and Alan caught him a couple of houses down, headed toward the beach. "I go beach," he explained. The next morning, Seth's first waking words were, "I want go beach!" after which he rolled over and went back to sleep. It was a consistent theme all day long, every day.

Well, a few days after we left North Carolina, we arrived in Houston (now there's a story, but probably not worth telling), and yesterday we went to Galveston to visit another beach. Seth's enthusiasm had not abated in the least. This beach had a little lagoon that was protected from the waves, and the kids had a blast chasing seagulls as well. All the way around, the beach has been insanely popular.

We visited it every day for several days, but it never got old.

Beautiful thought

"Mommy, what will I look like when I get big?" Anaya asked me yesterday.

"I don't know. Only Jesus knows."

"I want to know!" she howled. "Jesus, what will I look like when I get big?" She waited for a few seconds. "Mommy, He's not telling me!"

"He doesn't want you to know yet. It's a surprise. Remember, sometimes He says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait a while. It doesn't matter, anyway, really. Who cares if you're beautiful on the outside? It's what your heart is like that matters anyway."

She pondered that briefly. "Well, I don't want to be beautiful anyway."

PTL. May she always feel that way.

Imitation love

There's an echo in my house these days. Two of them, actually. It seems that whatever is said must be repeated three times, as if to squeeze every drop of meaning out of it. If Anaya says, "Mommy, I need my dolly to have a dollhouse!" it is repeated by Sethie and then, last but not least, by Skyler. "Mommy, I need a dolly dollhouse!" "Mommy, da-yee da-wouse!" These echoes are usually followed by gales of laughter from the boys. It is particularly entertaining when Anaya's part is not a happy one. "Mommy! No! Waaaaah!" and an anguished drop to the floor is followed by Seth's delighted interpretation. "Mommy! No! Waaah!" complete with identical voice inflections and fall, and Skyler's equally gleeful copy. The boys laugh hysterically at this new development (i.e., supremely irritating Big Sister). Anaya howls in rage.

Probably somewhere soon I won't be far behind her. I can tell you, hearing everything three times (at least) is not always too funny.

Sethie is not going to give up his new role as copycat easily, though. He just loves to imitate everything right now (and I'm sure Skyler is not far behind, no pun intended). A few days ago I was just gazing into his big blue eyes (is there anything more adorable than a freckled pug nose?) and I whispered to him, "I love you!"

"I wuv you!" he whispered back.

It was just too sweet. I had to do it again. So a few minutes later I said again, "I love you, precious boy!"

He grinned, crinkled his little nose and replied, "I wuv you, precious boy!"