Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Ted's Excellent Adventure

Teddy at his finest
I know I mention my 3-year old, Teddy, a lot in my posts, so I think I'm going to have to come right out and write a blog about him.  First of all, the reason I keep talking about him is because he's just so damn funny.  He does the craziest shit you've ever seen.  Here's an example: the other morning around 5:30 AM he crawled out of his crib (yes, he's still in a crib, because I unfailingly keep trying to trap him in there, and, just as unfailingly, he finds a way out) went down to the kitchen, and poured himself a bowl of vanilla wafers with milk on top, as if they were Bran Chex.  When I finally got around to stumbling downstairs myself, there's Teddy, sitting ON the the dining room table eating his bowl of cookies and milk with a spoon and simultaneously humming "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  When I calmly demanded to know what he was doing, he looked directly at me and said, "Meow."  In hindsight, I regard this to be the equivalent of shooting me the finger.

Another stellar example:  I was talking to the kids about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Our daughter, Bella, also known as Little Miss Perfect, said, "A teacher."  Charlie, our temperamental artist, said, "A rock star."  And then Teddy furrowed his brow, regarded the question, and answered in total seriousness, "A donut."  (By the way, we're still not sure how bright he is, especially considering that when Bella told him he COULDN'T be a donut when he grew up, he feverishly changed his answer to, "A lobster.")

But aside from his disarming sense of humor, what I love, love, love about the kid is his total lack of self-consciousness and his spectacular desire to enjoy life.  "T-bone" (his charming nickname) could care LESS about what people or teachers or peers think about him or his behavior, and he just wants to delight in each minute of each day as much as humanly possible.  He steps in every muddy puddle just for the pure thrill and joy of the splash.  If I give him a bowl of chocolate pudding he immediately sticks his fingers in it and, once that sensory adventure gets old, he begins fingerpainting and drizzling the remains, a la Jackson Pollock.  (As you may have guessed by now, I am a little lax in the discipline department.  I also have completely given up trying to keep the house in any semblance of order.)  Not only is Teddy a pleasure glutton, but he is is also completely fearless, and already has developed a serious penchant for free-falling roller coasters and abnormally large reptiles.

I could go on and on, but I guess what I need to say is that I feel like I have learned so much from Teddy, and that I will probably continue to learn from him.  He is the ultimate free spirit, and that is what I, and what I think so many people, would wish to be if they could.  He doesn't worry about the rules, about peoples' reactions, about how he looks or smells...he doesn't care.  He is totally comfortable in his own skin, and you can take him or leave him, but he is going to express himself however he damn well pleases. 

So maybe he's pretty smart, after all.



P.S.  I was literally JUST about to publish this when Teddy came running upstairs to me screaming, "Mom!  I ate all the bugs in the yard because I was trying to kill them and they were DISGUSTING!!!"  In relation to that last line above, all I can say is how outrageously ironic.

6 comments:

  1. That photo is so hilarious! Teddy is the coolest!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that Teddy has decided to be a lobster when he grows up. Such a funny boy! He has the right idea having a bowl of cookies for breakfast. I usually have them straight up, I'll have to try it his way the next time I make cookies a breakfast food. Actually, chocolate pudding is an excellent breakfast food as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. too funny not to be true,I love it , I've seen it I live it. thank for reminding me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How adorable! My little boy sometimes says "meow" to me first thing in the morning, too! And we don't even have a cat.

    ReplyDelete