Tougher than a two dollar steak....

This kid really cracks me up.  That's a good thing, because lately he's also been making me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork.  He's just at a "stage" (dramatic sigh) and we're just muddling through it the best we know how.  It's funny because the things he does that are stressing me out are SO HIS DAD.  I shouldn't get bothered by these things, because clearly they're genetic and he has no control over them.  For example, after being asked to put on his shoes forty six times, I find him standing in front of the television, HOLDING HIS SHOES.  Dear Lord, is this a boy thing, or a boy-in-my-family thing??  Apply that same scenario to buckling his seat belt, coming when he's called, being told to eat his dinner, and hollering at the baby to "stop making noise".  (Like that's even possible.)

Other than the stuff he's doing that is driving me nuts lately, he's pretty much the awesomest kid on the planet.  (besides my other two of course)

He says hilarious things that make his daddy and I cry.  Here are some recent ones:

"Mommy, I'm tougher than a two dollar steak." --spoken randomly from the backseat.

"JESUS!  Don't jump!!"--hollered at the Jesus decoration on top of a roof when we were looking at lights.

Me:  "CALE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  How many times have I told you to stop???" followed immediately by him responding, 

Cale:  "Mommy, why do you think God gave me such good parents?" 

And this little conversation with his daddy...

Daddy:  "Buddy, you know Daddy used to be in the air force."

Cale:  "What plane did you fly?"  

Daddy:  "I didn't fly a plane."

Cale:  "Why not??"  

Daddy:  "I didn't want to.  Instead, I was in finance."

Cale:  "Where did you find ants?"

Yep, it's a good thing he says junk like this to offer some moments of hysterical laugher in the midst of difficult parenting.  If ever I get bogged down about this "phase"....I just need to remember how great he is.... How he delivers these one liners that keep us rolling.  How he wants me to lay with him at night and sing him Christmas songs.  How he sung and danced with abandon at his school Christmas pageant.  

How he creates amazing, detailed drawings that blow all of us away.  How he immerses himself in airplanes, Legos, playing pretend, pirates....and becomes the resident expert on all of these topics.  How his tiny little teeth all show when he's laughing really hard at something.  How kind and thoughtful he is.  How he tells me he's never going to grow a beard, never ride a motorcycle, and never move out of my house, all because he wants to make me happy.  I really, really love this kid.