July 3, 2008
ding!
The boys have been asking to hear stories about themselves lately, for which I blame my neighbor; she just had a baby, and of course a new baby inspires lots of conversation about when OTHER babies were born. Charlie’s arrival was fairly mundane, but Henry’s was pretty dramatic and makes for a better retelling, especially the part about how the umbilical cord was WRAPPED AROUND HIS NECK and how I didn’t know that for days after he was born.
But that’s a story for another day.
Charlie, frustrated with the fact that his birth story consists of absolutely NO drama and only an assertion that he cried and cried and it was a lovely sound (Henry never cried in the delivery room), has asked repeatedly for OTHER BETTER stories about himself. “Funny stories, Mama — tell a FUNNY STORY about me.”
This is my favorite: when Charlie was 20 months old, we went to Florida to visit my brother and his wife. Charlie slept in a play pen in my brother’s office, which was across the hall from the dining room and didn’t have any proper doors. One night, long after the boys were in bed, the adults sat at the table drinking wine and talking. John was doing laundry, because he had a meeting in the morning; when we heard the buzzer on the dryer, he jumped up to pull his shirts out before they wrinkled.
And as he walked past the office to go to the laundry room, Charlie popped his head up over the side of the Pack-n-Play and announced, “CLOTHES ARE DRY!” and scared the living hell out of my brother.
Which of course is why it’s funny!
(He also used to say, “Dinner’s ready!” every time the microwave dinged, which I swear made my mother-in-law cry at least twice because MICROWAVED FOOD IS NOT DINNER. In my defense, he would say that no matter what was in the microwave — chicken nuggets, popcorn, my coffee, it didn’t matter. He always announced that dinner was ready.)
Posted by Susan @ 7:17 pm • Henry&Charlie
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July 3rd, 2008 at 8:02 pm, HeatherK Says:
My oldest has been known to ask if ‘hong kong kitchen is cooking tonight?’
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 pm, karen Says:
We don’t use the microwave much but I did used to use the timer to measure time outs. So, once when I actually heated something up in there, my son wailed, “But I’m not even in time out,” when it dinged. Pavlov, anyone?
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm, Henny Penny Says:
My son hears a ding and announces, “Coffee’s ready.” Even in a restaurant and it’s the fryer buzzer.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm, ~ danielle Says:
We use the micro as a timer A LOT for cooking. When my 2yo hears it go off she announces “EAT!”.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm, Stacy Says:
Kids and their quirks can be absolutely adorable!!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm, All Adither Says:
Stories about other’s little kids usually do not make me laugh. Not genuinely, anyway. That one did.
July 4th, 2008 at 6:05 am, Casual Friday — July 4th, 2008 - Cornered Office - Work It, Mom! Says:
[…] Kids say the darndest things. […]
July 4th, 2008 at 6:44 am, Angella Says:
Ha! I laughed at the clothes story.
Whenever Emily hears the microwave, she asks, “Milk?”. She and Nathan both like their milk warmed up.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:10 am, Damsel Says:
When my niece was young, every time the doorbell rang, she shouted, “PIZZA!!”
July 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm, Nina Says:
so cute!
Both my boys had their cords around their necks. I didn’t know that Caius did for months. With Cedric, he came out so fast that the midwife was screaming at me to not push so hard so she could pull the umbilical cord from around his neck. Yeah.
But I read somewhere that it happens in 20-25% of births so it isn’t at all unusual.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:39 pm, becky Says:
Hoo boy, I’m sure I’ll have stories like that when my little guy learns to talk. Right now we just laugh at how WIDE he opens his mouth when waiting for a spoonful of food. And how much he loves to bounce on our laps. But he does have a good birth story, like making mommy miss Thanksgiving dinner, so there’s always that to tell.