"Mouth of Babes"

Noah is at an age where one does not always know what is going to come out of his mouth. For the most part, it is always good. Once in a while, we have to correct his vocabulary. There are some days, we are laughing hysterically because of his wit, his charm, his animated expressions and gestures.

One afternoon, Noah came into the room where I was working. He had been watching "Dexter's Laboratory."Every now and again a craft or treat will be modeled for the viewers. On this particular day it was "homemade popsicles."As Noah explained each step to me, I was amazed at not only his comprehension, but his ability to explain the instructions to me. We went into the kitchen. He had pulled out an ice cube tray and a small can of pop. Again, he told me step by step what needed to happen. Noah said we had to put the tray in the freezer and wait overnight.

The next morning, we were all in a rush to get Noah out the door for school. As much

as I tried to convince Noah to postpone the "taste test" until he returned, he knew he had a creation waiting in the freezer. It was no surprise to me, but I caved. He took one lick and looked me in the eye with his unbelievably large eyes and said, "Sweet Mamma this is good! You should try it mom." "Sweet Mamma," I thought.

For Rick's Birthday, Noah and I had tried to make it special by baking him a cake, taking him to dinner and waiting on him hand and foot. The other day, Rick asked Noah to do something for him. In a very frustrated voice Noah said, "Why do I have to do it all, Dad? It's not your birthday anymore!!!"

Last night we were with Grandma Garff. We look forward to our dinners with her. Afterwards we went into her lovely home. Noah was dumbfounded by all the precious possessions she owned, "Grandma, is this real gold? How did you staple grandpa's clock to the wall? That must have been hard. All the kids tell me there's a monster downstairs.You've got a big world(referring to her globe) and lots and lots of books. How do you get that yellow book down from the top shelf?" His little mind was going a million miles a minute. In fact, his mouth was running away with him as well. Every time Rick would ask Grandma a question, he would remark, "Dad, that is SO RUDE. You keep ixsturbing me!"(disturbing) While waiting for Rick to finish helping Grandma, Noah got real serious and asked, "Grandma, do you live alone here?" Grandma said, "Oh, yes, I live alone." Noah had a look of concern on his face. He leaned over to me and whispered, "You better tell her to watch out for the boogey man."

While at dinner, Grandma inquired about Flat Screen TVs. Rick everwilling to help her out, suggested that he take the TV Noah had received for Christmas and plug it in her wall at home. That way she could make an informed decision as to whether or not she wanted to purchase one. Noah was not happy with that suggestion at all. The evening was young and so we decided going over to "Circuit City" might be a better idea. Still not understanding, Noah said, "and if you like it you can have my DAD'S TV, his is really nice. I glanced over at him and he said very matter of fact, "Well, she's not getting mine."

Grandma looked over the many TV's available. She could not get over how clear the picture, the sound, etc. She decided right then and there that she would like to make a purchase on a new Flat Screen TV. Noah was walking by her side and he said, "Grandma, I am really happy for you." That really warmed my heart. He was genuinely happy for her that she would now have something that she could enjoy and we all felt that, but Noah was the only one that verbalized it.

Noah likes hamburgers, chocolate and chips and not much else. It is not an easy task to go get him to eat. There are times when a bribe is needed. Noah's dad had told him that he had to eat everything on his plate including the cole slaw. Cole slaw is an acquired taste. I told him to have one more bite and I would throw the rest away.(Not a good idea on my part. Noah needs to know his dad and I are on the same page, but I don't care for cole slaw either.) He did as I had asked. I threw it away and then he said, "Don't tell Dad we threw it away."I was thinking "good plan." Rick walked through the door and before the door was shut, Noah blurted out, "Dad, we threw my food in the garbage!" His poor little conscience was bothering him. Now Rick was looking at me. "What about our plan?" I thought. "What about honesty, Rebec?"

What I learned from Noah: Noah has a sense of HUMOR and knows how to use it appropriately. He taught me that HONESTY is always the best policy even in matters of cole slaw. I learned the joy of discovering as a result of being CURIOUS, and I also learned how much he loves the TV Santa gave him:)