Who's Whistling?

One of the more interesting superstitions that Russians entertain has to do with whistling inside the house. They don't like it. I remember whistling one day and hearing my host mom yell from the other room, "Who's whistling?" Then immediately she called, "Money's going to fly!" The superstition is that the whistling causes your money to fly away. It doesn't make much sense, but it must be a way to scare little kids away from making that (usually) annoying high pitched sound indoors. Maybe I should start trying it with Owen. His latest favorite thing to do is whistle. His whistle is getting quite strong. Usually any music triggers it--the radio, my singing, his brothers practicing the piano--but sometimes he just starts whistling out of nowhere. William said to me quietly the other day, "Mom, you know what I just can't stand hearing? Owen's whistling." It was funny.

Owen is very frank and straightforward. It seems to be his personality and must also be his age. Some statements he's made to me recently with great confidence and assurance are:

"Your tummy sure is fat!"
"I don't ever want you to kiss me ever again!"
"This is how sharks roar..."
"Did you know that wasps really like black and gold?"
"I am steaming hot! (or steaming cold)"
"That doesn't make any sense!"
"I sure love you Mom!"
"I want to go to kindergarten! I am quitting Joy School!"

Owen likes to talk to people. When we go anywhere, he asks people questions, finds out things, and volunteers information.
We went to a restaurant and Owen monopolized the waitress' attention, ordered his own meal, and basically kept up a steady stream of talk every time she came to our table. We also went to a family fun fair and he won a very goofy mask and got some silly face paint and a kazoo and made everyone laugh who saw him:


When we went to see Will's eye doctor, Owen kept wanting to ask him a question and I kept trying to put him off. Then he'd get ready to ask and forget the doctor's name and ask me quietly, "what's his name again?" and then "Doctor..."
Owen loves to sit at the piano (it's an electric keyboard) and play "scary songs" with the organ setting. Sometimes, if we're lucky, he whistles along. :-)
He is so helpful with Tommy. Of course he teases him like crazy and they fight sometimes, but he is really aware and sensitive to Tommy's needs and helps him lots. I love to look out the window and see Owen pulling the chair up to the trampoline for Thomas to get off on, or getting him a drink or helping him choose his wardrobe for the day. He is a good big brother. Speaking of wardrobe, its fun to see what Owen chooses to wear. For the most part, he has a pretty good fashion sense and will choose things that match 90% of the time. However, his socks usually don't match, and he loves to pull those up to his knees. He also enjoys layering everything, including his underwear. One day he had on 3 pair of underwear, 3 shirts, and 3 shorts/pants. He had a big grin on his face when he gave me that fashion show!

We went to the library for story time and it was a story about kissing. Owen likes to give big juicy kisses, just doesn't like to receive them very much. I was sitting right behind him and knew what was coming at the end of the book. He turned around right there in front of all the kids and gave me a big smack on the cheek. I'll take as many of those as I can get, who knows how much longer he'll keep it up, eh?

Owen is a great companion to have around all day. I am so glad he's got another year left before kindergarten to be home. He likes to spend some time doing "schoolwork" type activities with me, but its nice to take it at a leisurely pace, depending on his mood. He loves to hear books and tries to read them himself, and he likes to try to write some letters. He is growing up and is so fun. He's pretty accident prone and currently has many scrapes from falling off his bike, but he's fairly resilient as well. He pushed one of his front teeth out and so I guess he'll be a jack-o-lantern for a couple of years until it grows in! After the first few days of worrying that it would affect his whistle, he's forgotten about it and we're getting used to his toothless grin. If you come to visit, Owen will be sure to get to know you, and make sure you get to know him too!