Thoughts on my little boy

Sometimes, I'm so inundated with cute, adorable moments from the kids, that I take it for granted. I forget that soon these little people will be big smelly teenagers who don't sit on my lap and give me kisses anymore.

As I type this Apollo is sitting in bed with me, wearing his Superman jammies, and explaining to me how the human body works while showing me a picture of the intestines from his "human body" book. "That's where the food becomes poop, mom!" His chubby hand traces the intestines while he explains where the food goes. He has a fake heart tattoo on his arm that's starting to peel off. His hair sticks up everywhere from all the different cowlicks on his head. He turns and asks me "Mommy, do Easter Bunnies like salad?". He's so stinking adorable.

Another recent Apollo quote:
"Dad, you're my favorite superhero."

He was also recently explaining to me what people do.
"Babies cry a lot and poop in diapers. Dad's go to work and then come home and feed the chickens. Moms work on their laptops and argue with kids." Knife through the heart, I tell ya!

Apollo is also convinced that he has magical powers. While driving, Cameron pretends to hand Apollo the "magic", and then Apollo waves his hands in the air and "magically" turns the dome light on and off. Sunshine has been getting in on the act lately too. Also, Cameron has been practicing his magic tricks lately, and Apollo has been getting in on the act, using his "magical" power to make Daddy's tricks work.

The other night, Cameron and I were laying in bed, talking about how we could be better parents. Some days, I feel like I spend half the day scolding him, yelling at him, or sending him to time out. He likes to test the boundaries and he gets frustrated with Sunshine, who follows him around constantly and wants to do whatever he is doing.  I just wish I knew what to do with him. He's so mischievous, but it's also what I love about him. I'm pretty sure that the visionaries of the world liked testing the boundaries as kids. He's so smart and so good at expressing himself, sometimes I have to remind myself that he's only three and I shouldn't expect so much of him. As Cameron and I lay in bed, discussing how hard it must be to be a three-year-old with so many emotions and so many questions, I just wanted to go grab him from his bed and snuggle him and kiss his sweet chubby cheeks. I thought of all of those impatient moments I'd had with him throughout the day. I thought of how he had cried after I had yelled at him and had said "I'm having a rough time." Sometimes, I don't feel like I deserve to have such a brilliant, sweet, sensitive spirited little boy. He teaches me so much. I really hope I can learn to be a better, more patient parent.