Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails...

...that's what little boys are made of!

Oh, how many times does that little nursery rhyme echo in my head! I totally agree with it, too.

Well, luckily we don't have any actual snakes here in Hawaii...except in the Zoo. But of course, Samuel loves looking at all the pictures of snakes in his books. He recently had a book with full-page color pictures of snakes eating huge eggs with that scary mouth-stretching digestion-whatever action that they do. It was so disgusting to me I couldn't even look at it. He, of course, loved it.

And puppy dog tails...well, we got rid of our poor little doggie for several reasons; one being that Samuel wasn't as gentle with her as he should have been. So her and her little tail are safely in Maui now with a nice non-little boy family.

But the snails...oh my. Here in Hawaii we have huge snails and they love coming out at night when the grass is damp. And Samuel LOVES to go out looking at all the snails. So far he just likes to poke at them with a stick, making their slimy little bodies hastily retreat into the shells. Then he pushes them down hills and across the sidewalk. Poor things. At least they aren't getting smashed or otherwise killed. He hasn't thought of that yet, I'm sure.

Poking a snail on our snail hunt last night.

He insisted on getting pictures of ALL the snails he saw last night. For your sake I won't upload them all :)

Telling me about the "Daddy and baby snail"

As my kids get older, it is becoming more and more obvious how different they are as a boy VS. a girl. I sort of thought it was a bit cliche to say this, but they really are THAT different!

A look into a 3-almost-4 year old boy's head:

Samuel hears loud noises and runs toward them excitedly. Olivia runs to me and hides her face.

Samuel sees a bug and happily smashes it with his BARE FOOT, then rubs it off his foot while taunting it; "Ha ha bug, I got you with my foot!" Olivia wrinkles her nose and points to him with a disgusted "Ewwww!"

Samuel climbs everything in sight and usually jumps from it, no matter how high.

Every toy is not a toy. It is either a missile or weapon disguised as a toy. And if possible, it should be dismembered as much as possible to see how it works.

My 2-yr old enjoying some Cholula hot sauce. Real men drink it straight from the bottle.

Birds should be chased. Comments should be shouted. Sisters can be bitten. Dirt looks best thrown into the air and allowed to settle in your hair. Scars are cool. Burps should be done in public as loudly as possible and repeated if no one reacts right away. Permanent black markers make great pictures on your body...and on your little sister's face.

Now he has chest hair and Olivia has....?? Whiskers?

The list could go on an on....

So many times, I thank God for my little girl. She's a tough one; she has to be in order to survive! But she's very much a little girl who protests if Daddy or Samuel burps, or if she sees a bug, or if Samuel makes a mess. She's my little balance in life to all of Samuel's boy-ish-ness.

I never had a little brother so I have been a little overwhelmed at his actions, to tell the truth. Many times I've gotten frustrated. But THANKFULLY I bought the book by Dr. Dobson "Bringing Up Boys". Oh man, that book has helped me so much! It explains all the differences between the sexes and WHY boys act they way that they do. They aren't being disobedient or willfully bad ALL the time. It's their energy levels...testosterone, etc.

I love learning how to understand my little boy. He's really a sweetie and I would do anything for him. I don't want him to be a "Momma's Boy" but I DO want to have a lifetime closeness with him. He's precious and brings such joy to my heart in so many ways...flashing the "I Love You" in sign language to me during church...wanting to hold my hand when he falls asleep for his nap in the afternoon...coming up and buttoning the VERY top button of my shirt and kindly telling me, "I've got this, Mommy. Here....all done now." The funniest is when I help him with a task and he cheers; "Yay! Good job, buddy!"

Samuel, I hope I am always your buddy. I would be honored.

Thank goodness for people who have 'been there, done that' with boys, because I find their advice and insight invaluable. And I'm so thankful for my other friends raising little boys, because we can compare notes and I realize I'm not going insane.

Or if I am, at least I'm not alone!

THANK HEAVEN for little boys :)