Growing Up

So, the other day, Austin was with Greg at church and he was continually using his middle finger to point to things. Greg tried his best to ignore it and hoped that Austin would just stop. But, he finally told Austin that he really shouldn't use his middle finger to point to things because it means something bad and it could really upset people. As is typical with Austin, you could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He held up his pinkie finger and asked if he could point with it. Greg told him that would be fine. Then, he held up his ring finger and asked if that was okay. Greg said he probably shouldn't do that either because people might think it was his middle finger. After a couple of minutes, Austin looked at Greg and said, "Is this bad, Dad?" He had all of his fingers up except for his middle finger. I laughed so hard!

He just always wants to know where "the line" is and how close he can get to it without getting in trouble (or minimal trouble). A couple of years ago, he discovered "swear words." Austin asked me if I would just tell him ALL the swear words just so he would know. I laughed and explained that even I probably don't know ALL of the swear words. Without missing a beat, Austin asked if Dad knew all of them. I laughed even harder and told him that Dad probably did know all of them.

Actually, Austin has been very pleasant lately. He has been playing quite well with Macy and has eased up on "Sister Torture" lately. He also finished 1st Grade yesterday. It is hard to believe! He's been coming home with a Computer Coupon pretty consistently the last few weeks. We went to his class's Garden Party on Wednesday night (and in the rush to get a picnic dinner made, all three kids packed up, and hurry out of this house right after piano lessons - I forgot my camera). His class has been learning all about plants and the life-cycle of plants. They've even had Super Spelling Words like photosynthesis and chlorophyll. It's been a fun subject. The Garden Party was the culmination, and it was really fun. Austin did a great job on his little skit. He and three of his classmates wrote a skit on how flowers get food. He was the flower and said, "I'm hungry. I'm going to make me a sandwich." (This is a line from a Veggie Tales movie that Greg says all the time. I thought it was great that he thought to use it in his skit. He's just starting to get better at understand humor and irony.) Anyway...The other kid said, "You can't eat a sandwich. You're a plant. You make your own food." Then, the other kids told him what to do to make his own food. It was adorable! They sang a song about all the parts of plants. He stood there, sang (very animated) and didn't even bother the other kids around him. I seriously watched with tears streaming down my face. This was HUGE for him! Then, the kids (and all their brothers and sisters) made little flowers, decorated their own sunglasses, and dug in the sand for different kinds of seeds. They even had a Watermelon-Seed Spitting Contest. They had some plastic tablecloths taped to the floor with numbers on it. The kids loved seeing how far they could spit. Paige loved eating the left-over watermelon (it was dripping of her chin). It was a very successful evening.

Most of you know that we purchased Austin an alarm clock a few years ago - Not to wake him up, but to keep him in his room. We tell him that he can wake up any time (who knows how early he really gets up most of the time), but he has to stay in his room until 7:00. The "plan" all year long has been that he gets up, makes his bed, gets dressed, and then practices his piano. He has gone through periods when he does pretty good, but most of the time it completely escapes his mind that he has to get dressed (again!!!). Greg has assured me all year that this is just little-boy mentality. So, Thursday morning (second-to-last day of school), Greg and I wake up (about 7:15) to the sounds of "Scooby-Doo" on the piano. He finally got it! He was up, dressed, bed made, and doing his piano (without ANY "reminding" from me or any whining from him). It was amazing! He did the same thing Friday morning. What a success!

I really do love him, and he really does have so many amazing qualities that I greatly admire in him.  A friend of mine observed the other day that he is a very loving person. This is so true! I love you, bud! I'm grateful for all you are and all that you teach me!

One more Austin story:

So, I love little Collette Stapley. He played with her all morning at the Ward BBQ. When we got home from the BBQ, I said, "Austin...I think you should marry Collette." He sighed and said, "Mom! I haven't decided yet." (A few years ago, he was obsessed with figuring out who he was going to marry since we explained that he can't marry Macy, me, or Lisa. But, we told him not to worry because he can pick who he wants.) I know he's only 7 (almost), but I already worry about who he'll end up with. I just think Collette is such a good match for his personality, and they really do have so much fun playing together. I told him just not to rule her out in 20 years. Come to think of it, she'll probably be snatched up by then. He better make it 15 years! :)