Here is Hammie, napping peacefully and looking particularly adorable. It is very very important for me to focus on this picture and remind myself that he can be very sweet at times, even though he can be hell on wheels too. Today he poured Fraser's entire glass of milk on the floor at lunch just for the hell of it. He went directly upstairs for his nap after that, for his own safety. This is after last night when he spent 20 minutes screaming "I want a cookie!" while I was trying to make dinner and when I finally snapped and yelled back at him that there was no way he was getting a cookie before or after dinner he spent the next 15 minutes until dinner screaming "I want a pickle!" Then, when I finished my dinner but everyone else was still eating, I told everyone there were 4 leftover birthday cupcakes so everyone could have one for dessert. I got mine first since Eleanor was getting fussy and I was clearly going to have to leave the table pretty quickly to feed her. Hammie went totally berserk, screaming and throwing his fork and cup and shoving his plate across the table. When Andy asked "Hammie, do you want your cupcake?" Hammie yelled "NO!! I want Mommy's!"

Fraser almost made me cry this week for a completely different reason. We were watching the Today show and they were talking about how the Taliban keeps burning down new schools being built in Afghanistan or just making sure people are too terrified to send their children. They showed footage of a little boy standing with a dog. Fraser asked who the boy was so I told him he was a little boy who lived very far away. Fraser asked why he wasn't in school. So I told him the boy didn't have a school to go to. Fraser was very concerned and said "That's sad." So I told him I would try to look for a way we could help the boy and Fraser said "Yes, I'd like that. That would be good." I practically can't even type it now without crying. I know, it's not like he has announced he is joining the peace corps or anything, but I think for a 3 year old it is a pretty impressive display of empathy. Please God, let that be a sign that I am doing something right here.