From the moment I knew that there was a tiny bean of person growing inside of me, I loved him [“it”]. When I was pregnant for Co I had no idea how much I would love him, but of course, I took one look at him and instantly couldn’t remember not knowing his face or what life had been like without him. Each season and stage of his life has been difficult in some ways and amazing in others. In the middle of each season, I think “this is my favorite age”… not that I didn’t like the age before; it just keeps getting better…
But still- honestly- this is my favorite age. [Seriously, to quote one of Cohen’s favorite words]. Not only do I love my kid more than I even know, but I am finding the more his personality emerges, the more I just like him… David and I like him so much that we’ve both admitted to worrying that maybe it will be hard to like any subsequent children as much as we like him. Of course, I know that’s natural with baby #2 and that most parents worry about those kinds of things…
But [seriously] Cohen has enough personality for 10 preschoolers. He is witty and engaging. He is interested in everything, constantly asking me what things are “made ov-uh” (translation: made out of- he can’t seem to get that down). He is smart as a whip (sometimes too smart and too inquisitive for his own good). And boy is he ever creative…! Whew! There are times we feel almost worn out because of the never ending parade of words and stories, but when you really listen his imagination is quite impressive. I am often amazed at the things he knows or has “figured out all myself” and just the unusual way his mind works. His teachers are always telling us how he asks questions during reading time that none of the other kids even understand. We just smile- the depth of his questions often catch us off guard too…
[Okay this is turning into a total brag blog about my little boy, so forgive me]
…lately he has been talking a lot about God… saying poignant statements, asking questions we hardly know how to answer, and then cracking us up with his ideas about how it works. Maybe they won’t be as incredible to anyone else, but as an ode to Co and in an attempt not to forget (thank you world wide web) I wanted to chronicle a few of them here.
– Sunday afternoon Cohen and I were coloring and he said, “Mom, I don’t think I can listen to God’s words”. [The whole “listen to my words” thing is preschool speak for “obey the teacher”]. The corner of his mouth turned up in perfect parallel to his cocked eyebrow, the way it does when he makes a frank observation. “Why is that, Co?” I asked. He sighed. “Well, I like to eat strawberries from trees.” I stared at him questioningly for a moment, trying to make heads or tails of it. He wasn’t telling me a random story. He continued, “Adam got into a lot of trouble. He listened to the snake.” Now I am getting the picture and trying not to laugh. “Mom, I am serious. But I really like to eat strawberries from trees, so (sigh) I can’t listen to God’s words. Sorry.” I smiled at him, explained that that was one particular tree from a long time ago, that God didn’t mind that he wanted to eat strawberries and that by the way, strawberries don’t grow on trees anyway. “Oh!” he said with delight, “Ok, Mom, I can listen to God’s words.”
– “Mom, how come God never takes a nap?” Apparently though he was pretending not to listen at church, he had heard Pastor say that God never sleeps or slumbers. “Well, Co Bean, He doesn’t have a body like we do, so He doesn’t need to rest.” “God doesn’t have a BODY?”he exclaimed. I hesitated. David would later try to explain that God has a glorified body. I was too exhausted to explain all those words so I just said “no”. There was a moment of pause before Co exploded into laughter, “God is NAKED!” Hmmm… not what I was going for exactly *grin*
– Cohen has a hard time sleeping and deals with a lot of night terror. Every night when we say prayers, he wants us to pray for God to send angels to his room to protect him. One night a few weeks ago, after I finished praying, Co piped up. “Mom, can you ask God again and this time tell Him we want the big, strong angels with the really huge muscles?” Since then that’s the prayer. Sunday we were leaving church and another dad who has a child in Co’s class said that the boys had been discussing how they have angels. When we got into the car, I asked Co about the conversation. “Yeah, I told him at our house we have the angels with the really huge muscles,” Co said proudly. I think this is some Christianized version of the whole my-dad-could-beat-up-your-dad thing.
– Driving home from school last week, Cohen and I were talking about doing right and obeying his teachers. He said something profound. “Mom, sometimes I do bad things that I don’t want to do and then I feel angry.” I almost had to stop the car. Profound.
– Today as we were leaving for school, Co said “Mom, what does it mean to be in the Spirit?” I asked him where he had heard that and he shrugged. I asked him what he thought it meant. He was quiet a moment. “When you listen to God with your heart.” “Yep, Bean that’s right. When you hear God and you obey Him that’s being in the Spirit.” He locked eyes with mine, said nothing and then looked out the window, thoughtfully. I pray all of that is just getting into him…!
– “Mom, what is God made ov-uh?” [If anyone knows how to explain that one, please comment!]
– “Mom, can bad people steal things out of heaven?” “No, babe. No one can steal anything out of heaven,” I answered. “Why?” “Well because God is there.” “Because God will KILL them if they do?” His eyes shone. Cohen loves the idea of justice. (perhaps too much?) “Bad people can’t get to heaven,” I said trying to get the conversation off of God killing people. “Good. Can we hide my toys there?” Didn’t see that one coming 🙂
– “Mom, why isn’t God on everyone’s side?” Cohen asked me this weekend. We’ve talked a few times about how he doesn’t have to worry or be nervous because God is on his side. “Well babe, God doesn’t really pick sides. He has His own side and anyone who wants to can be on it. But some people don’t want to be on His side.” He was incredulous, “Why? God is really HUGE. I want to be on God’s side” (especially now that the whole strawberry debacle has been put to rest)
– We finished reading a chapter of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Co said, “you know what, Mom? I think Aslan is really Jesus.” Well, Mr. Lewis, you can’t get anything by my 3 year old.
– At dinner tonight, Cohen swallowed a bite, looked at his plate, stood up, pulled up his shirt, and looked at his belly. “Mom, where does the food go when I swallow? Into my heart?” I explained digestion as best as I could to my preschooler, promising we’d look up pictures after dinner, “but, no, babe, not to your heart.” “Oh! That’s right! That’s where Jesus goes,” he said after hitting his palm on his forehead, like ‘oh silly me. how could i have forgotten’.
Now can’t you see why this is really (seriously) my favorite age?!?
I LOVE that he caught on to the Aslan-Jesus parallel! Amazing!! 🙂
I LOVE it! Little boys say the best things! A friend keeps a record of what her three boys say and they are hilarious! She has three tornadoes (as the grandparents call them) and I don’t know how she keeps up!
I try to write some of the things Cory says down, but sometimes I don’t and wish I had!
This: “you know what, Mom? I think Aslan is really Jesus.” made me cry a bit. In a good way. So glad you’re writing regularly again. Not that I can blame you for the break(s), but I always look forward to your words.
You are going to love the fact that you have written these things down. My boys are 26 and 23 and I had great intentions but didn’t take the time to write it down. The one thing I did do was set up a tape recorder to tape them telling stories before naptime. A glimpse into a little boy’s imagination and heart is priceless. Enjoy every stage as if it is your favorite stage. Never wish for the next stage because you’ll miss of the magic of the one they are in now.
I think you should publish a book of Cohen’s “God revelations.” They are so wonderful to read and bring tears to my eyes. Out of the mouths of babes…His Love prevails and reveals itself. Thank you for sharing!!!
I’m loving these ‘chronicles of Cohen’ he’s so free when it comes to getting to know God! Very inspiring 😀
He reminds me of a very intelligent, perceptive, precocious little girl I once knew . . .
Like!
cute cute cute cute cute! and smart too!
Love this!