Don't Hit Me With Your Prayer Rock

Caleb is four. He's full of surprises - some hilarious, some not so much.  Here are a few examples.

His Aunt Rachelle and sister Emma were listing words that start with the letter "O." Otter, oval, oven, orangutan, octopus. Caleb threw out another word for the list, "FISH!"

Caleb was given a Prayer Rock at Primary, along with a cute little poem about using it to remind him to pray. "I put it in our pond!" he announced on the way home. A few minutes later, I heard Seth yell, "Caleb! Don't hit me with your Prayer Rock!" I have officially called the judgment of his teacher into question.

I took him to see The Lightning Thief with the other kids. Minutes into the movie, I called my own judgment into question, but had to settle for trying to cover his eyes in some of the scarier parts. Like he was going to let that happen.  After an intense battle scene wherein Percy Jackson emerged victorious, there was complete silence in the theater, broken when Caleb shouted, "YES!!!" He totally got it.

Caleb and I were on eye level, looking into each others' eyes (the kids call his big, brown eyes Disney Princess eyes).  Upon seeing his reflection in my eyes, he declared with wonder, "Mom! I see me in your eyes!"

My hope is that Caleb will eventually be able to identify words that start with the letter "O," stop hitting his brother with Prayer Rocks (or any other hard/sharp objects), and learn discretion at the movie theater.

But my prayer is that he never loses his sense of wonder, and that he will always - in some form or another - be able to see himself in my eyes.