sensitive & sweet vs. rough & tumble

Simon is growing and changing so rapidly lately. He has stolen my heart away with his gentle yet rough and tumble, boyish ways and he has me in chuckles throughout the day with the silly things he says. Just the sound of his voice makes me smile.

Lately, he is really into dress up. I'm not sure if it's really fair to make a record that he really likes to dress up in his sister's princess costumes, but I really do think it's nothing to be too embarrassed about. After all, he does have an older sister who is the coolest person he knows and she and her little friends make the biggest fuss about playing dress up. Why wouldn't he be intrigued? In the last couple of weeks, the big fascination has been with Ella's tap shoes. For several consecutive days, he would ask for them upon first waking. Reluctantly, I would allow him to tap around the house in his sister's shoes nearly all day. Fortunately, he has discovered that his cowboy boots also make a rather satisfying "click-clack" on our tile and hard wood floors and so they have now officially replaced the tap shoes (much to his father's relief.) Funny though, he doesn't call them "cowboy boots," rather, they are "tap boots."

On an entirely separate note, referring back to how this boy has stolen my heart, my most favorite thing Simon does right now is tell me he loves me. When his daddy is leaving for work in the early morning hours, I am often still asleep and so Daddy puts Simon into bed with me so that he can dash out the door. Simon used to fuss about this because he has always been an "up-and-at-'em" kind of kid...raring to go at the break of dawn. But lately, he savors the few moments of it just being him and me. I don't know if it's that the weather has turned colder or the mornings are darker, but he is happy to snuggle up with me and enjoy the warmth of the comforters. He sighs, he snuggles in, he wraps his arms around my neck and with our foreheads touching, he says, "I looooove you Mamma." Oh that boy. He is such a gem, a treat, an absolutely, irreplaceable, one of a kind, precious gift.

And then, when his sister wakes up, he kicks her with his cowboy boot, makes her cry, and I'm reminded that my sweet and sensitive boy is truly all boy.