Happy Birthday, Part 2

Three weeks down! It's hard to believe! Some funny school stories:

1) A senior I had two years ago stopped me in the hallway, and proceeded to tell me that she wishes I had an older son so she could date him. She said that since we get along, I would be a 'cool boyfriend's mom.' I'm assuming that's a compliment, but I told her that she would never be good enough for my child ;-)

2) One of my freshmen was not doing any work during class. I spoke to her, rather discreetly I might add, and her reply was to growl at me. And, she was serious. That was special.

3) In the middle of a discussion during my Honors 10 class, one of my students had a ginormous arm spasm. Basically, it went up in a giant circle above his head. He then shook out of it and put his head down. I got a bit concerned and asked him if he was ok. He, dead seriously, looked up and told me that he does that all the time (mind you, I had the kid last year and NEVER saw that) and it's only gotten worse since he accidentally electrocuted himself with his alarm clock. What is the appropriate response to such an admission?

4) This week, I've made one student cry over his belief in UFO's (don't ask...), found out a co-worker is dating a wrestler (again, don't ask...), and had a female student ask to be referred to as a male. I also had the school nurse come up to me in study hall and ask me where my teacher was. Seriously. Mrs. Kovall. Worked here for 4 years...It's been interesting. I think I work in the Twilight Zone. It makes my days go very quickly, though. I swear, if I were a better writer, I could write a book.

5) I also had one student tell me that I am a good role model for the following reasons: I have a career and a husband and I had both of these BEFORE having a child. All good reasons, I guess. And, I had another student tell me she's learned more from me in 3 weeks than she learned in 3 years of middle school GIFTED English. I don't know that that should be a good thing, but it was a nice complement nonetheless.

6) This isn't funny, but it is sweet, so I thought I should include it. I took a few minutes during my Honors 10 classes this week to talk about Finley. I have one of the Finley's Fighter's magnets on my desk, her bracelet on my arm. I am always ready! I didn't get super into detail, which would have resulted in tears (sorry, Jen - I am still not good at it!), but I gave them some info on our girl and our cause. The kids were so caring - I've sold quite a few bracelets and they all want to walk. Of course, none of them are old enough to drive, but they are going to try to spread the word and figure something out. I also got a few donations from school this week. We are always so happy to feel the love - we would do anything to get the money into the right hands to cure our girl!

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Grandma brought him a new book

"Five Little Pumpkins"

Ethan spent Monday with Sharon, his babysitter for while Christine is off. He did amazingly well - I am actually quite shocked (though proud!) of how adaptable he has been with all of his new babysitters over the past few weeks. Sharon just gushed over how much fun he was, how smart (and VERBAL) he is, etc. He must have had fun because he did not nap the entire day. She tried, but I guess he just stood in the crib and yelled "Sharon? Are you there?" Little stinker.

Check out those jammies!

I have gotten the biggest kick out of him this week. He came home from Christine's on Tuesday and was so chatty (after telling AJ he'd like to 'stay at Teen Teen's' when he picked him up...). We were eating dinner, and I asked him about his day. We had a sweet little conversation where I learned that his little gal pal was playing with a yellow car, fell off, got a boo-boo, cried, but is now 'otay'. It was hilarious! Sometimes I just can't get over how much he talks. Sometimes it's cute; after an hour or two non-stop, not so much.

His latest fascination: Thomas the Train

For instance:

Thursday evening, he jumped out of the bathtub unassisted and proceeded to run, stark naked and dripping wet, into the living room, screaming and giggling at the top of his lungs. When I finally caught him, he jumped from my arms and ran into his room and continued the madness. He ran around in circles, singing "Dizzy Ethan" for about 15 minutes. Keep in mind, he was still naked, though air-dried...I asked him if he wanted to go potty or we'd have to put on his diaper. He said, seriously, "I will when I want to." Two years old and he has an attitude and the verbal skills to express it!

Putting money is his new bank

from Teen Teen's neighbor

He also carried on his first real phone conversation this week with my mom. He always asks for us to call people, but typically just stares and smiles at the phone once they are on with him. Not this time! He told her about his gal pal's fall (he was seriously concerned), that he saw a bug and a spider at the baby sitter's, and that he'd wear his pj's when she sleeps over this weekend. He is hilarious.

He's had a great weekend. He played with Grammy & Papa on Friday, and my mom came up on Saturday and spent the night. Spoiled little boy. AJ and I went to Benihana yesterday for my birthday - it was awesome! We went to see the movie "Easy A" and really liked that, too. I'm having a very good birthday-week so far :-)

We celebrated with cake today (Ethan was pretty excited), and I am looking forward to eating the rest for breakfast all week.