Here lately...

Alder has been doing some random things, some funny, some interesting:

1. Couple weeks back, one morning I went in his room to see if he was awake yet. I whispered, "Are you awake?" and he lifted his head, eyes shut, lifted one hand in the air and said, "Allaclado in hand, Daddy." Translation: "I have an avacado in my hand, Daddy." I am thinking this was the first evidence of what Alder dreams about. I immediately questioned him about it and he sort of came to, looking at me as if to say, "What? I said what?", then looked at his hand, then at me again... We got a kick out of this.

2. Every morning when Alder goes to school we pass a bagel shop that we sometimes go to on the weekends for breakfast. Alder LOVES bagels. So he starts to scream "Bagel Store!" as we approach and pass. Then I say "Bagel Store!" Then he says "No, Bagel Shop!" Then I say "Ooooh, oooh, bagel shop." Then he says "No bagel store." And we have this mini argument for about a mile, where he pretends to correct me, back and forth, over and over. Then when he is tired of the game he just shouts "Bagels for breakfast!" and then we are done with that game.

3. He likes to point out darkness, saying "Its dark in there", pointing at various things and parts of things. Like the inside of a rolled up yoga mat; any picture with a night scene; a crack or crevice like say on a matchbox car or between boards on the deck; Tsuga's ear; the space behind a piece of furniture, etc.

4. He occasionally lifts up an article of my clothing and says" Daddy naked in there," over and over until I confirm that yes, I indeed am naked under my clothes.

5. When we walk over a handicap symbol painted on a parking space, he points and softly repeats "Little boy." This one is almost creepy.

6. Today, when I cranked the car, a song was just coming on with one solo banjo. "Banjo, Daddy. Banjo in Daddy's car." He likes to point out a guitar when he hears it, and sometimes a piano, but this was a first. He must be taking this from a few weeks ago when we went in a guitar shop, and I messed with a Banjo and told him about it. 'Minds like sponges' is so true.

7. He likes negatives now. Its sort of like he's taking the motormouth-identify-everything to the next level. Rather than report what everything IS, he has started telling us what things are NOT. Example: I walk in the door, and he explains, "Daddy NOT outside." He was eating a PB and J the other day, and reported, "Not spicy, Not spicy."

8. Something so fun and cute is how he will come up to Heath, get really close to his face, or his hand or foot, and scrunch his face up into a squinting, super pucker, and in his highest pitch little voice will repeat, "Heath soooo tiny." This was probably one of the first things we said to him about Heath in the hospital and it stuck.
9. When we are done reading books at night, and I ask for a hug and kiss before I get out of his bed, he says "No," politely, in hopes that I will stay longer. I say "ok" then proceed to get up, with him protesting "Nooo hug, kiss, Daddy." When I bend over him to hug and kiss standing beside the bed, he says "No Daddy, kiss and hug in the bed, IN the bed." You probably have to be there for this one. Funny thing is that he does it EVERY night, I guess.

10. Oh yeah and Alder is cutting his second molars. Its really cool that he can talk about teething. Man, that would have been nice about 18 months ago.

11. OK, Lesley just reminded me of one - how could I forget, best for last. Three times in the past few days, he will get off the potty, look at his BM, and start to tell us what it looks like. The first time, it was "like my noo-dool", the long foam noodle that he takes to the pool. The next time, it was "a goldfish!". And today, "like my puzzle, Daddy!" The first two I got, but a puzzle?

12. Today, he tried his best to get Heath to "play my cars". "He ya go, he ya go..." No luck just yet.So, just some fun things we wanted to capture. Its something new everyday and there is no telling what fun stuff we have forgotten already.