Must Do A Little Bragging...

...about my oldest son. He was once on the path to being a full-fledged brat. Not through any fault of his own, mind you. He was born to two morons that thought they knew more than they did. (well, at least one of his parents is a moron anyway; I thought I knew EVERYTHING I needed to know about parenting. That is, until we started home with him. I yelled at Mark to drive more safely)

Being the firstborn he was an only child for a few years. Being the only child meant that he got the full, undivided attention of his parents. He also pretty much had the full, undivided wallets of his parents. If he asked for something, he got it. Until one day, at my grandfather's house. We went over there pretty much everyday while Mark was at work. One day, out of the blue, Nathaniel noticed a teapot. It was probably the only thing that he had never played with in the whole house. It was not even a real teapot;it was a planter. My uncle had given a plant to my grandmother before she died. It came in a cute little teapot shaped planter. The plant had outgrown the pot, but he had the teapot sitting on a baker's rack. Nathaniel decided he wanted to play with it. Not a good idea since he was a destructo-boy. Oh, and the teapot was glass. So he started by asking over and over. Then came the whining. Then crying. I finally had to take him home screaming "I WANT PAW-PAW'S TEAPOT!!!!" over and over and OVER.

He finally (after a week or so) learned that NO is a real word. We started making little changes here and there and using "No" more often. Don't get me wrong, it was not an easy overnight thing. He has, however, grown into a wonderful young man. One night last week we went to the Gadsden Mall for a little Chinese food. While we were still at our table a man with a cane went up to the counter to order some food. As he was paying, he dropped his cane. Mark and Benjamin were heading for a store while Samuel finished up his food. So I asked Nathaniel to go help the man. He did it. Just marched right over, bent down and handed it to the man. He has gone from being a a hard-headed little stubborn kid who cried for days over being told no, to a sweet fellow that helps others. Are there times where I just want to thump him? Yes, although I fight the urge. The times where he plays with his little brothers, even if he would rather be doing something else, or he participates in a church play, even though he does not want to, or the times where he just puts others first, is enough to melt this mean old mama's heart.

July 28, 1997

This is a day that completely and totally changed my life forever. The reason for this is that on this day i became a mommy. So today we celebrate the person who made me such. (well, not my husband, my first born son)
Nathaniel is somewhat of an unusual child. NASA fairly recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of space flight. My oldest son can rattle off most of the significant dates of flights into space, tell you who commanded or piloted what mission, how many days in space it orbited, and even tell you biographical info on most astronauts. However, if I ask him to pick up his laundry, he forgets. What is it about men and their selective memories???
Which brings me to my real point. My little baby boy is growing up. He no longer needs me the way he once did. If he is hungry or thirsty, he knows where the kitchen is located. Don't get me wrong, he still does the occasional "MOO-OOM, I'm hungry!!" But not because he is too small to fend for himself.
He is something of of a learning experience for my husband and myself. He is the first one to be born, so obviously he is the first to do everything else. In some ways that is good. But in others (like being the first to get grounded) is not so good. He is the first to form a life outside of us. I guess that is what makes things seem a little strange.
He is, for a boy growing up in this day and age, very innocent. He is very pure of heart. Yes he has his moments of not being perfect, but who doesn't? Overall he is the kind of boy any mom (especially this one) can be proud of. So go ahead and let him rattle off ten million space facts a day to me. I know that it will not be long before there is some other woman who is there everyday to listen to his wealth of knowledge. But at least for now, it is still me. Here are some picture of his party. I feel like a terrible mom for his party not being "more" than what it was. I had planned to serve "astronaut food" (ie Tang and granola bars) but things the past week have been a little weird around here. Also his guest list was shortened because some of his buddies were not in town, some could not make it for one reason or another and his cake really did not look like a moon. I know there are a lot worse things in life than the cake not looking moonish enough, but that really bothered me.


The cake. Complete with a model lunar landing module he bought at the gift shop of the Marshall Space Flight Center.


The cake with my future astronaut (who is currently my little astro-nut


Still enough of a little boy to ask for toy cars


For I think the past four or five years he has gotten this along art supplies from sister for his birthday. You would not believe ho happy he is to get this. He draws and makes paper crafts ALL THE TIME!!!


Enjoying tilapia fillets for supper.


And yes, Benjamin lost his other front tooth!!!

Science Fun

Hmmm..... lovely display for the end table huh? That is the price for having a chid who loves science. Nathaniel signed up for a summer science club with Quick Study Labs. His first lesson is on growth. He is going to root a carrot, grow crystals, and root sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes are to be planted in the yard and harvested this fall. (I wonder how much of THAT Mr. "I don't like to get dirty" is actually going to do)
Oh well, at least it made him smile for a moment