Did He Clip It To His Tongue?
It's amazing how the father of a particularly enterprising toddler can anticipate any common object's use as a potentially injurious hazard in the home. Chris went somewhere today and came home with a security badge he'd had to wear-- the kind with a metal clamp that you clip to your shirt and the tag you wear designates that you're permitted to be there. When he arrived home, he tossed it on the curio cabinet just inside our front door. Later he and our teaching assistant went out to run an errand. When he returned, the following conversation ensued:
Colleen: Hey, guess what happened to Ror! You know that badge thing?
Chris: Did he clip it to his tongue?
Colleen [shocked]: HOW did you KNOW that???
Chris: Because when I got it, I looked at it and thought, Ror would definitely want to clip this to his tongue. Sorry, I forgot to put it somewhere safer.
I was so shocked that he could get inside Ror's strange little mind and guess what he'd use the clip for.
Later, Ror, with a huge flourish, said to Nicole (our teaching assistant), "Nicole! I got a surprise for you!" Nicole was flattered... until Ror produced an old t-shirt of one of the teenagers that he had found balled up behind the couch. "You gotta wear it! It's for you! I got this for you!" He's such a giver, that kid.
Connor spent the day trying to teach Riley-Kate new words and trying to convince me that "the plants are high-- that means it's kindergarten time. Let's get started." I assume that someone must have told him that kindergarten starts when it's time to harvest the garden, but he couldn't elaborate further, just pointed to the garden as though it were proof enough in itself that I had indeed forgotten the first day of school. At least we know he's an eager student.
Riley Katie took great pains today to be sure that she received at least double the attention that anyone else received, attempting to knock her brothers over any time they began beating a path toward me. She would then grab onto my knees and try to pull me down, saying, "Baby... ahhh, ahhh, ahhh...." She has this new bizarre little routine where she wants me to hold her like she's a tiny baby and sing "rock a bye baby" while she sings along. She doesn't say the words, just, "Raaaaah, aaaaahhh, aaahhh, raaaah..." Then Ror yells, "I be the baby now!" and if I try to put her down to hold him, she tries to pinch him. So today she figured she'd just head anyone off at the pass if they tried to cut into what could be valuable rocking and aaahhh-ing time.
They all really relish the "baby game," and I can't say I mind it, myself. Whomever is playing the part of the baby lets me hold him or her and rock and sing, and then they pretend to be saying their first word-- "Mama!" Then I say, "OOOOHHH, My Baby said MAMA! What a good, smart baby! Oh, I'm so happy that my baby said MAMA!" And the other two look on and cheer. It's very exciting because I imagine that they'll behave similarly when little Wilhelmina (just kidding) arrives and later says HER first word. Connor and Ror gamely cheered on Riley-Kate as she learned to speak, and it's so exciting to Chris and I to know that now one more little face will be watching and applauding as the newest little Elio achieves all the big Firsts. Ack, December seems so FAR AWAY!
Speaking of little Gertrude (how do you like these names we're trying out? LOL ), she is kicking more than any of her predecessors! Connor got to feel it the other day while he was shouting into my belly button ("HELLO IN THERE BABY SISTER!"), and he was mighty surprised. Ror keeps trying to "trick" her into coming out-- "Merry Christmas! Come out, baby!" This is going to be the longest autumn of these poor kids' lives! Anyway, it's entertaining to watch my tummy move and jiggle more than it ever has before, and it's especially fun to share that with the kids.
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