Referral Anniversary - Boys Will Be Boys

Three years ago my cell phone rang as I sat outside and said to my neighbor, "What will I do if we get a boy?" I was telling her that we had not requested a boy or a girl for our next adoption but as I watched the boy from down the street knock over Emmy's tray of bubble-juice for the 3rd time, I wondered if I could raise a boy.

I grew up with sisters and even though I had a step-brother and lots of male friends as an adult, little boys were kind of a mystery.

So when I answered the phone right after expressing my worry and heard our contact at the adoption agency say, "Lisa, we have a little boy for you," I was in awe of the timing. And I am still in awe of my little boy.

Here's what I've learned about boys in the past two years, or at least what I've learned about my little boy:

- Little boys are kind of gross. Things like spitting, spaghetti sauce in the hair, boogers, syrup on your fingers are all things that boys think are kind of fun, especially if mama is yelling "No!" while you're playing with them.

- Little boys really don't have remorse or guilt. They're sorry they got caught, sad they're being punished. But truly sorry that they kicked their sister, pulled the dog's tail, or poked mama in the eye - not so much.

- Little boys like weapons. Aidan got a styrofoam sword for his birthday a few weeks ago. Whenever he's playing with it, he will come over to me, hold it to my head and say "cut, cut, cut" as he moves it back and forth. Should I be worried?

- When there is no blatant representation of a weapon, anything will serve that purpose. Even throwing a fluffy stuffed animal can cause damage.

- Little boys like bugs. Trying to get Aidan from the house to the car takes about ten times longer now that spring is here. He will notice tiniest ant and has to get down to look at it no matter how much I'm hollering to "hurry up!".

- Little boys have no sense of urgency. Hurrying is never a possibility. Come to think of it, little girls have no sense of urgency either.

- Little boys think farts are funny. Come to think of it, big boys think farts are funny too.

- Little boys have sweet little singing voices and love to sing sweet little songs. But when you get out the video camera to capture the moment they will only sing in their "dragon" voice.

- Little boys think Spiderman is awesome. When Aidan had only just turned 2 and wasn't saying many words, he saw Spiderman on a napkin and said "ooh, piderman." I have no idea how he even knew who Spiderman was, not to mention that was 3-syllable word - a big accomplishment at the time.

- Little boys can eat a lot. Aidan isn't a fast eater but he will continue eating for as long as I'll let him. He will even eat, have dessert, then return back to his regular food after the sugar.

- Little boys will wear a hat, preferably a baseball hat. Not sure if that's true for all little boys, or just the son of Dave.

- Little boys are very snugly when they are tired. Little boys move around like an octopus on speed when they are not tired.

- Little boys can do things like puzzles, sit still for a book, color or gently the pet the dog. But they'd rather not.

- Little boys cry when they hurt themselves just like little girls do, but the pain seems to go away a lot quicker and with a lot less medical equipment required.

- Little boys will always knock over the tray of bubble-juice. They can't resist it.

When we got Aidan's referral I called to tell one of our best friends the news. She, a mother to a now grown-up boy, said, "Well I'll tell you one thing, little boys sure love their mamas." I guess I did know what to do if we got a little boy, love every minute of it.

Here's the first picture I saw of my little boy.