Alexisms

So it's been forever since I blogged, period, but even longer since I wrote anything relevant about what Alex is doing and saying at this point. This post is basically a long, rambling list of random things that Alex has been saying or doing, things that I think are brilliant or funny, things that prompt me to think, "I should write this down so I don't forget it". That said, it probably won't be very interesting to the folks that don't want to hear my brag and boast about how sweet and smart and funny my child is (presumably everyone but the grandparents fit into that category). So feel free to opt out until the next post comes along (although there are some really funny pictures in this post, so I suggest scrolling down to enjoy those, at the very least). Here we go.

For some reason, he has always associated "amen" with giving God two thumbs up. Consequently, he calls his thumb his "amen-er", as in, when he slammed his thumb in the lid of my jewelry box, he yelled, "Ouch!!! I hurt my amen-er!!"

He yells, "Ta-da!!!" and throws his hands up after every accomplishment.

Lately we have been focusing on the concept of patience. Around 7 o'clock the other night, I sighed and said something like, "Where is your father? He is taking forever to get home", and Alex held both palms out at me and said, "Wait patiently, Mommy. Daddy is still working."

He is starting to grasp the concept of time, although he hasn't totally caught on because, according to Alex, everything happened "last night". If I ask him if he wants a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, he says, "NO, I had peanut butter and jelly last night!!" If he hears a familiar song on the radio, he gets super excited and exclaims, "I heard that song last night!!"

If you ask him what time it is, he will go study the clock for a few minutes before telling you that it is "four two and a half".

He likes to negotiate based on time frames. If he's busy playing and I ask him if he's ready for lunch, he'll tell me "Not yet!". If I ask him again, he'll tell me to, "Wait a second!", and if I insist that he comes to the table, he'll say, "I wanna play for five more minutes!".

He ends every prayer with, "And God says AMEN!"

He LOVES letters. His favorite song is the alphabet song, which he sings at least half a dozen times a day. He never misses an opportunity to point out an "A for Alex", especially when riding in the car.

His new favorite thing is to send emails. I can hardly turn on my computer before he is at my side, begging to "write an email". He tells me who he wants to write to, he tells me what he wants to say, I tell him which letters to type, and he finds the letters and types them. He can spell his name, so he always signs his emails without any help from me.

He adores books and loves to be read to. He is trying really hard to read himself, and he is great at identifying letter sounds. He has about a 90% accuracy rate when we ask him what letter a particular word starts with, and he can spell a simple word when we encourage him to sound it out.

If I apologize for anything, he responds by saying, "It's okay, Mommy, it was just an accident".

He also loves to make up his own stories, although lately he is more interested in giving us topics and insisting that we make up stories to tell him. His favorite subjects are himself ("Talk to me about Alex!"), space ("Talk to me about the moon!"), and even more often, he wants to hear a story about Thomas the train. Lord help us. And not just regular old Thomas, but a shrunken version of Thomas, one that can do things that regular-sized Thomas is too big to do. I really don't think I can come up with another story about the adventures of "Little Tiny Thomas", so if anyone has any fabulous storylines about a tiny, annoying train engine with a bad attitude, I am all ears.

He is an avid backseat driver. He points out every stop sign he sees, and once we've stopped and moved on, he insists that I "find another octagon!!!". When we come to a red light, he screams, "STOP!". When it turns green, he demands that I "GO!", and if it's yellow, I am told to "SLOW DOWN, MOMMY!".

And the best for last. He LOVES to tell us he loves us. He'll come up to me about a dozen times everyday, hug me around the legs, and say, "I love you, Mommy." If Tim and I are sitting next to each other, he will put his arms around our necks, look at each of us, and say, "I love you guys!".

At times it seems random, but more often, he does it at times when he is especially happy, times when we are having a really fun time together, like when we are doing a project and enjoying each other's company, when we are wrestling or cuddling, or when we are reading a book together. In other words, there is appropriate context for when he says it. It is so obvious that his words aren't arbitrary. It isn't a habit or a case of "going through the motions". He really seems to understand what it means, when you say it, why you say it, and how important it is to say it to the people that love you. It is a really good feeling to know that we say it enough that he has picked up on those cues. How can you not want to hug and kiss and love this kid every second of the day?