I really do love him

I really do love my 3 year old. Haden is ridiculously imaginative, and full of energy. On the way to school yesterday he asked me if Grandpa's cows wore good climbing shoes. I told him that cows didn't wear shoes. "But they need to wear good climbing shoes, so they don't fall down and break their legs, because that would be soooo sad!" How do you respond to that? He regularly uses markers all over his body for war paint. He even knows which ones wash off easiest and refuses to use those. After watching Mulan, he started coloring his lips black, but only in the middle, just like Mulan. And you should hear him sing, "I'll Make a Man Out of You" at the top of his lungs as he chases Regan around the house with his broomstick (just like Mulan's). He was "so sad" on another day because he doesn't have a brother to sit beside him in the car. He told his teachers at preschool that he got thrown into the dungeon and loudly asks me, when we pass someone, if that person is a stranger and if they are going to take him. (He ran off in public a couple of times and I had the stranger danger talk with him, but he has taken it a few steps further!)

So last night when I was making dinner, I was standing at the sink in the kitchen when I felt a water drop on my foot. Our kitchen sink has leaked occasionally, so I turned off the water to investigate. The water wasn't coming from the sink, but from my recessed light in the ceiling. The drip quickly turned into a steady stream of water dripping from the light. The puddle on the floor was growing quickly. It took me a second to realize what had happened. An hour or so earlier, I was feeding Lila when I realized it had been very quiet. Regan was playing on the Playstation and Haden was nowhere to be seen. I thought I should go look for him, but by the time I put Lila down Haden came downstairs drenched in some of Regan's perfume. I dismissed any concerns of what he might have gotten into (other than Regan's perfume, that is). And then I realized what had happened. Clint had just gotten home and we both raced upstairs. The faucet in the kids' bathroom sink was on full blast and the drain was plugged. The water was pouring over the counter and onto the floor. The carpet within 5 feet of the bathroom door was dripping wet. Apparently those little holes that come in the top of the sinks to prevent this very problem don't work so well! I turned off the water and got out the vacuums. We sucked up water until we realized it was pointless. Haden was sentenced to the couch so he wouldn't be in the way, and maybe so I wouldn't kill him. By the time we gave up and went downstairs, the little stinker was sound asleep. The water had soaked through the sheetrock and we now have a huge wet spot which will turn into a water stain when it finally all dries out. In the mean time, the fans are going full blast and my kitchen just smells like wet dry wall-yuck! When Haden woke up and we had our talk, he said, "That's okay mom, we can fix our house, just like Handy Manny does!" I don't think my house is going to survive him!