Kids say the cutest things....

You know how kids are always saying funny things, not meaning to be funny, but it totally is? Colin does this a lot. He comes up with things....you just can't believe the things he says, and many days, he has me in tears because I am laughing so hard.

Yesterday, while the boys were eating lunch, Shane called to check on us. After our conversation, I must have put the phone down on the table, because a few minutes later, as I was sitting down on the couch nursing Ethan, I heard that "click" that you hear when a cordless phone turns on, and I look up to see Cameron holding the phone to his ear! I try really hard to keep the phone out of the boys' reach (especially Cameron) for fear that one of them will accidentally dial Europe or something, so I was surprised that I had been careless enough to set it on the table right in front of them. But had I not laid the phone down there, I wouldn't have had this moment either, so.....I'm sort of glad it all happened this way.

So anyway, Cameron has the phone to his ear, and I hear him say, "Hi Da!" He is actually pretending to have a conversation with Shane, which was funny enough! Since I was nursing, instead of getting up to get the phone from him, I asked him to please give the phone to Colin, because I knew that Colin knew how to turn it off. He did hand the phone over, and I asked Colin to hit the button that turns the phone off. I heard the click again....and then Colin put the phone to his ear. He began a three minute "conversation" himself. He talked about his day, how he went swimming outside, ate lunch, practiced his numbers, etc....it really was cute and I was getting a charge out of it (all the while believing that the phone was off!) After a couple minutes of "talking", Colin turned around and looked at me and said, "Mom?" (small pause) This lady on the phone keeps telling me to press another button and try again." I almost died laughing! He had obviously not hung the phone up--pressing the talk button again instead of the off button--and was hearing the "if you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again" recording! It really was so funny, and I was laughing pretty hard, which made him start laughing too....I then laughed harder because he was laughing (you know how laughter can be contagious!) and he laughed harder too, then Cameron, never to be left out, took one look at both of us and began laughing himself. It was just another moment in the day when I thought to myself, I have GOT to write this down. I have so many moments with the boys where I think that, and many times, I never actually do it...this one, I did.

Thanks for keeping me smiling, Colin!

**That originally was going to be the end of my post....however, just this morning, Colin said another "cutest thing" so I had to add it. I have been teaching Colin for quite some time now about being thankful and grateful for the things that we have. That is really a difficult thing for a child to learn, it seems (think of that child that you have seen at Christmas open 19 really great presents and asking, "Where's the next one?") but Colin has actually been receiving the teaching quite well. Today was garbage day here, and the boys were all outside playing while I was taking garbage out to the street. I had gotten it all together, and soon came the garbage men and took it all away. Colin and Cameron love seeing the big truck, and we make a big deal out of looking for it each week. After the garbage men were gone, Cameron went back to playing, but I noticed Colin just kind of standing there, looking at the empty cans and seemingly processing what had just gone on. He then looked up at me with a big smile on his face and cheerily said, "I'm SO GRATEFUL for those men taking all our garbage!!"

You can only imagine how big of a smile came to my face...not only for the "cutest thing" he had just said, but for the most amazing fact that this little man is actually understanding and LEARNING what I am teaching him! What a great feeling.