1. He loves tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches like Harriet the Spy (I always loved the idea because of the book, but yuck, so he checks this off for me).
2. His favorite author is Jose Saramago.
3. He kind of wants to learn Portuguese, so he can read Saramago in the original language.
4. He loved musicals before he even met me.
5. He has this perfect voice—a little deep, a little Southern.
6. He has perseveringly curly hair.
7. He has this beautiful mouth, which I finally realized comes from his grandfather. His siblings share it.
8. He wears an “Om” ring and actually knows what that means.
9. He's fascinated and incredibly skilled with maps (something I'm hopeless with).
10. He read The Phantom of the Opera with his tenth grade class this year and last year. He has developed the appropriate reverence.
11. Through his genealogical research, he found the first pictures I'd ever seen of my mother's father.
12. He often tells me I look like my mother's mother (a great compliment and one that means he's taken time to look at photos).
13. He thinks watching Sesame Street with his son will be supremely awesome.
14. He has completely adopted my language and my family language, seemingly with little effort.
15. He once played the lead in a Dr. Seuss play.
16. He types as if he's playing a tiny, fast piano.
17. His silent calm makes people respect and want to be near him without even knowing him.
18. He never takes the evil route in video games.
19. He has a huge base knowledge of history and politics (something else I definitely don't have and a reason I often say, “I love it when you know things I don't know.”).
20. He praises me when I get excited about knowing, recognizing, or remembering some stupid bit of historical or political information (even though much of my historical knowledge is thanks to American Girl).
21. He helped me ace Social Psychology tests by talking me through the information (with his genuine interest) while I took bubble baths.
22. He does voices when he reads aloud and has read Bridge to Terabithia, A Little Princess, and The Princess and the Goblin quite happily.
23. He can read Dr. Seuss without stumbling.
24. He has a clear worldview and is aware of current events (also unlike me).
25. He can draw.
26. He kept angsty notebooks as a teenager.
27. He appreciates science fiction.
28. He can clean a house just as well as I and in half the time it would take me.
29. He has an impressive collection of antique school books.
30. He makes a vest and bowtie look fabulous.
31. While looking at drawings of a proposed New York bridge, he said, "That's crazy. That's tremendous," and then, in a smaller voice, "That's hot."
32. He can pronounce French (enough to convince me) even though he doesn't remember much from classes.
33. He draws pictures on my letters to my brother.
34. Because he calls me Fox, he has drawn Foxfits: a fox in various professional wear, and later, maternity wear. He is planning to draw some Baby Foxfits, which will include tail warmers. All this because I think it's adorable and anything like a paper doll.
35. After every boy said, "Ugh, don't wear makeup. You shouldn't wear it," he said, "I love the sparkles under your eyes" and still talks about how he likes my makeup. He knows it's fun for me.
36. He is incredibly forgiving.
37. He never closes off his heart.
38. He looks awesome in a suit, in pajama pants, in tight jeans and a black T-shirt...
39. The bookshelf by his bed holds Isaac Asimov, Thomas Hardy, Carl Sagan, Tony Kushner, Aldous Huxley, Voltaire, e. e. cummings, and the Redwall series.
40. He snuggles with our cats.
41. He appreciates yummy scents.
42. He puts my appointments and work dates in his calendar.
43. He straps on a purple watch to time contractions.
44. He is very impressed with Twilight Turtle.
45. He takes my blanket very seriously. Is it out of the dryer? Did we remember to pack it?
46. He relinquished major facial hair to avoid tearing my face up when we kiss (the side whiskers are still impressive).
47. He looks good in a man cardigan.
48. He built a pantry, stroller, and crib; installed a car seat; and fixed an off-center door in less than a month.
49. He's willing to get excited or sentimental over the smallest things at any moment.
50. He's so relieved that we have a breast pump.
Josh sounds awesome. :-) I think more couples should write lists about the things that make their partners awesome, it might help them appreciate each other longer!
ReplyDeleteDoes Josh have any particular avenues he takes when working on genealogy? I'd love to hear about them. I haven't done much to track down my birth parents because I feel like I'll have to pay someone a thousand dollars to do it for me!
He has a membership with Ancestry.com. Do you know anything about them? If you have some information, he may be able to help. He's obsessed with it and is stuck with his own family and mine right now.
ReplyDelete