A Real Mama's Boy

During our morning trips to the big city, Elliott and I often listen to "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN radio. Friday morning the pair interviewed astronaut Ken Ham who was aboard the space shuttle Discovery many hundreds of miles ABOVE the studio. He was part of the current space mission that delivered a Japanese space station and was scheduled to return home today. They would also bring home Garrett Reisman who had just spent the last three months in space.

After I listened to the interview, I wondered what life will be like when Elliott is my age. When I was his age, the United States had just started experimenting with sending man into space. Now man lives there and can do a sports radio interview from space, sounding every bit as clear as Kobe Bryant explaining the Lakers' demise from California. I imagine Elliott will be able to use the phone to call someone in space by the time he's a teenager - I just hope he calls after 9PM when we have unlimited minutes on our phone plan.

We've been wondering if Elliott might be jealous when the new baby comes. There is no more question. I was giving mama a back rub tonight (I think that's close enough to flirting cousin Becky) and it made Elliott very upset. I've been teasing him lately about his rapid evolution into a mama's boy, but this was a bit much. He jumped up on the big green chair with us and promptly removed my hands. He then hugged her tight, gave her a kiss and shot me a grin over her shoulder. It was a grin that seemed to say we just fought over mama's affection and he won.

I went on to tease him by starting back up with the back rubs, only to have him respond with tears each time I did. I finally conceded. It is apparent that being a mama's boy is not enough, he wants to be her only boy!