Kitty needs some milk

One thing about motherhood that I love is watching my children's personalities develop.

I love learning all their quirks, favorites (food, color, superhero, etc) and uniqueness.

I also love how they share so many qualities, but yet are so different at the same time.

Another great thing is how just when you think you have them pegged, they throw a curve ball in there and totally surprise you.

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So Elijah is our tough guy.

Even when he was little we noticed he was different than his more sensitive and dramatic older brother. Elijah would run into something (as a normal toddler would) and would just shake it off. He also is fearless in many ways, and lets few things stop him or slow him down.

He used to be quite the bully at the playground a few summers ago. If anyone happened to bump into him or look at him the wrong way he would turn and shove them as hard as he could before they could even blink. The gasps from all the other moms on the playground could be heard from miles away.

Needless to say I spent a lot of time that summer apologizing to the other mothers and forcing him to apologize to the unfortunate children who happened to cross his path. We also spent lots of time sitting together in time out.

Elijah was very different from his older brother who would run up to the playground, scan the perimeter, chose a child he has never met before to be his "bestest friend in the whole world" and play with them until they or we left the playground. He often plays by himself pretending he is a brave warrior saving the princess (me) from dragons or just "bad guys" or a superhero who is rescuing a girl (me again) from an evil force.

Elijah also doesn't share his affection very easily. Ask his father. They are two peas in a pod and often their similar personalities result in butting of heads. Elijah makes a big stink about not giving Richard kisses because of his "pokies" (facial hair) and is reluctant to even hand out a hug or two. This pushes Richard's buttons and Elijah knows it. However, nights when I am at work I can just about guarantee that Elijah will climb into bed with Richard, unbeknownst to him, and snuggle all night.

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Furthermore, Elijah doesn't care what others think of him.

This is also different from his older brother who is definitely a people pleaser.

This is one of my favorite qualities about Elijah. One I admire.

Because I am not like that and unfortunately Jonah inherited that trait from me.

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But, the funniest thing about my "tough boy" middle child is that he does have a soft side.

The little boy who spends his days running around as a brave soldier, warrior or superhero killing bad buys and saving me from evil isn't always so tough.

He is a momma's boy.

He also LOVES butterflies and kittens.

He begged me to buy him a pink butterfly shirt from Target the other day.

(I didn't get it in case you were wondering)

When we play princess and brave warrior there may not be kissing, dancing, or marrying ('cause that is girl stuff), but we will have a pet kitten.

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Richard has mentioned getting a puppy this summer once or twice.

I said over my dead body.

I have plenty on my plate with 2 toddlers, a baby, a job, and housework. The last thing I need is a puppy to take care of!

Elijah thinks we should get a kitten since we aren't getting a puppy.

One problem: Richard and I both despise cats.

Elijah is heartbroken over this. All he wants is a gray kitty.

(He was also heartbroken when he learned he couldn't have a butterfly for a pet because you can't touch butterflies or you will kill them)

So we compromised and my parents brought home a stuffed kitten from Disney World.

A gray one at that. Elijah is in heaven.

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So today after we picked up my parents from the airport, we headed to Ground Round for lunch. Elijah brought his precious kitty inside and shared everything with his kitty. Kitty had some popcorn, chicken strips, french fries and a few drinks of chocolate milk.

During the meal I used my hooter hider (piece of fabric used to cover myself up while I breastfeed-if you don't believe me click on the link above where you can purchase one) to feed Isaac. After I was done Elijah asked me for my blue thing. I was confused at first but realized he meant my hooter hider (which has blue polka dots on it).

Then he told me never mind and I when I looked over he had his shirt up and was breastfeeding his kitty in Ground Round.

This got a few quality looks from neighboring tables!

My mom and I were laughing so hard we were about to pee ourselves and also trying not to let Elijah see us laughing so he wouldn't be hurt.

Then he brought his kitty over to me and asked me if I would let his kitty have some of my milk because he was out and "kitty needs some milk!"

I kindly told him I would not be able to feed his kitty at Ground Round and that we could go home and find milk for his kitty because kittens only like cows milk.

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As we left the Ground Round I was smiling.

Smiling because I have a 3 1/2 year old little boy who is ALL boy, loves the color green, cheese pizza, chicken strips, hot chocolate and snuggling. Spiderman, Ironman, and Robin are his favorite superheroes. He is particular about the way his clothes fit, and is not in any rush to learn how to ride a bike. One of his nicknames is Lou and he likes having his back rubbed when he can't sleep. He loves brave soldiers, warriors, dragons kittens and butterflies.

And he is not afraid to breastfeed in public if kitty needs some milk.